Like other people across the country, Erica Marchbank of Vancouver turned on the television Sunday morning and sat slack-jawed, learning of the massacre that happened at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
“This is what really saddens me: It was so targeted against the LGBTQ community,” Marchbank said. “This has not just happened in Orlando. It’s something that happened to the world, really.”
The shooting early Sunday that killed 49 people — 50, including the shooter — and injured 53 more happened in the middle of June, which is Pride Month. Celebrated in communities around the country, Pride Month recognizes the progress of LGBTQ rights and recognition. Bowing out of those events due to fear would set us back and set a bad example, Marchbank said.
The Portland Police Bureau said it would up security at Portland Pride Week events, a celebration capped by a parade on Sunday.
“I will still go,” said Marchbank, who is gay and campaigned for marriage equality. “Don’t let hate win.”
Vancouver’s annual Saturday in the Park Pride is set for July 9 at Esther Short Park. The event has been held since 1994.
Clark College will have a table at the event. President Bob Knight sent a letter to students and staff on Monday, reassuring them that Clark College “is a safe, inclusive, and supportive community where all persons are welcomed and respected.”
The community college campus held a moment of silence at 11:50 a.m. Monday and lowered flags to half-staff, per orders from Gov. Jay Inslee.
“We recognize that there are many layers to this tragedy,” Felisciana Peralta, multicultural retention manager, said.
She noted that while the shooter, claiming to be Muslim, shot people at a gay nightclub, it was also Latin Night. Many of the people who died were Latinos. The Office of Diversity and Equity is talking with students who are citing a deep amount of sorrow and anger over what transpired. Students can also seek counseling at the Counseling and Health Center.
“There’s a lot of education needed,” Peralta said. “Someone full of hate doesn’t represent everyone.”
‘Know your neighbors’
Marchbank describes herself as a community and political activist, but said she didn’t get heavily involved in the community until 2012, when she rallied to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington state. That experience fostered new relationships, more involvement, and eventually she started hosting monthly community-building breakfasts. She said the breakfasts are open forums aimed at bringing people around the county together.
“In general, we’re so much stronger together than fractured,” she said.
She knows the shooting will inevitably be brought up at the next breakfast, happening 10 a.m. Sunday at Pho Haven.
“Really, if you know your neighbors how can you hate them?” Marchbank said. “I think it’s important as humans that we feel heard. … If you had a sense of purpose, if you had a sense of belonging, if you had a sense of self … why would you go and do something like that?”
Gunman Omar Mateen claimed his allegiance to the Islamic State while talking by phone to law enforcement during the nightclub shooting. The local Islamic Society of Southwest Washington, which has a mosque in Hazel Dell, denounced his act in a statement:
“Members of the Islamic Society of Southwest Washington community condemn the heinous crime committed against humanity in Orlando, Fla. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims of this senseless act of mass shooting. As Muslims, we believe in religious freedom and human rights for all. We categorically reject violence, hatred, and discrimination against anyone and stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Americans in the fight against extremism of any kind. May God guide us all in the path of peace, Amen!”
Khalid Khan, of the Islamic Society, spoke about the importance of being a good neighbor during the Interfaith Prayer Breakfast a couple of weeks ago at Family of Christ Lutheran Church in Felida. He said the Founding Fathers set up the country so that “people of all faiths and no faith would come together, live together and prosper together.”
Members of the local Islamic Society have previously said that terrorist leaders have perverted Islam by using out-of-context snippets of religious texts to manipulate uneducated people into committing violence.
