DeSantis fails to mention LGBTQ+ or Latinx people in Pulse tribute

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has failed to mention LGBTQ+ or Latinx people in his Pulse massacre anniversary tribute.

Thursday marked nine years since the Pulse nightclub shooting in the early hours of 12 June, 2016, in Orlando, Florida. 

The devastating massacre – which took place when the venue was hosting a “Latin Night”, meaning most of those present were Latinx – stole 49 lives and left 53 people wounded. 

To mark Pulse Remembrance Day (12 June), DeSantis, who last year said Florida is where diversity initiatives “go to die”, gave a speech in an order lowering state flag to half-mast for the day.

His statement, however, failed to mention the LGBTQ+ or Hispanic community. 

DeSantis said: “Nine years ago, on June 12, 2016, a shooter claiming alliance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant committed a horrific act of terrorism at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.” 

State senator Carlos Guillermo Smith – the state’s first out gay Hispanic senator – called out DeSantis’ omission as “intentional”. 

He said: “The omission was as intentional as it was a slight against the impacted LGBTQ and Hispanic communities. The governor’s lack of consistency here shows he cares more about scoring political points in the moment than authentic solidarity with his own constituents.” 

Smith added that Thursday should be “about remembering the 49 lives taken by gun violence” and their families.

It isn’t the first time DeSantis has omitted the LGBTQ+ and Hispanic communities from his description of the massacre: He failed to mention them in 2019, but following criticism his office issued a statement stating that the omission had been corrected. The “error” was blamed on the staff. 

Gunman Omar Mateen was shot dead after a three-hour standoff with police. A jury cleared his widow of aiding and abetting, and of obstructing justice, in 2018.

The venue is now set to be pulled down and transformed into a memorial. Survirors have been given the chance to visit the site of the tragedy ahead of its demolition.

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