World shares #TwoMenKissing to fight homophobia
AS a stand against homophobia and in response to the recent killings at a gay nightclub in Orlando, people have flooded social media with images of two men kissing.
Over the weekend Omar Mateen shot and murdered 49 people at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, in an act that has shocked the LGBTI community around the world.
Following the tragedy, Mateen’s father told NBC news that his son had been enraged earlier this year after seeing a same-sex couple kissing in front of his family.
This prompted people around the world to post images on social media in defiance, using the hashtag #TwoMenKissing.
If #twoMenKissing was the #Orlando shooter's motive, then let this be every hater's conditioning therapy. pic.twitter.com/OG52gCA20Z
— Theo Bleckmann (@Theo_Bleckmann) June 13, 2016
#TwoMenKissing because #LoveIsLove pic.twitter.com/zws9iJvEUp
— Thaddeus Maximus (@thadnelson) June 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/MarkkRaimondo/status/742499971560308736
https://twitter.com/khristyvn/status/742470984066686976
Many posted the images while condemning violence against the LGBTI community, saying that same-sex love is something that should be celebrated, not hated.
Seeing #TwoMenKissing should never be an excuse for violence or bigotry. It should warm our romantic hearts :-) pic.twitter.com/xrthrK3vyk
— Stephen Wood (@StephenWood_UK) June 13, 2016
If #TwoMenKissing is now an act of defiance, activism has never been so pleasant pic.twitter.com/BDOz9mYwhI
— Wouter van Dijke (@WoutervD) June 13, 2016
Love will always triumph over hate.
Prayers for Orlando.#TwoMenKissing pic.twitter.com/9NKQT33ETP— Alexander Nedd (@alexnedd2) June 13, 2016
Around the world communities have mourned the tragic mass shooting, with memorials being held in major cities like London and San Francisco.
“LGBTI people are scared… I’ve had numerous friends email me and share how unsafe they feel at the moment,” Australia Equality Party leader Jason Tuazon-McCheyne said.
“I am bracing myself for the plebiscite and how hard that will be, but I am more worried about our son and other kids in LGBTI parented families who will be exposed to an environment that may cause massive harm.”
Other hashtags like #TwoWomenKissing, #LoveIsLove, and #LoveWins have also been shared widely on social media since the shooting.
I “love” “LOVE!”.
Thank you.
Best wished to those who actually found your forever-mate!
(sign me jealous!)
:)
What a messed-up individual this poor man was! Poor? Yes. Reportedly he spent a lot of time at the Pulse Club. He had regular contact with gay men through an App. I think the poor guy was gay but – thanks to his homophobic religion – a religion we are told he took very seriously – he could not accept for himself. We are told he spent hours sitting quietly on his own drinking – also a no-no in his religion in that club. Did no-one think to approach him and try to befriend him?
I just think he was a very, very disturbed young man who cracked in the worst possible way.
In saying that, Nothing excuses what he did and nothing ever can do so.
I would just like to know “Why did he feel driven to doing such an appalling thing?”
Was it an Act of Terror or is that the only explanation the “experts” can give for the inexplicable?