On the eve of the two-year mark of the mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse, survivors of the Orlando massacre joined students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a protest against gun violence. More than 200 people joined the #HonorThemWithAction rally Monday night at Orlando City Hall. The protest was organized by multiple advocacy groups and Pulse survivor Brandon Wolf, who lost two friends in the shooting.
"Six hundred and twelve days," Wolf says. "That’s how long it took for Pulse headlines to become Parkland headlines. Six hundred and twelve days. That’s how long it took for 49 lives lost to become 17 more. And in those 612 days, nothing changed."
Wolf says the community demanded common-sense gun reforms and an executive order from Gov. Rick Scott to protect LGBTQ state workers from discrimination but both proposals were met with silence.
"We were met with excuses," Wolf says. "Rick Scott was so busy trying to appease his gun lobby donors he wouldn't even wear a damn [Pulse] ribbon. … My friends – our 49 angels – they deserved a future. They deserved a voice. Gun violence, corruption and greed stole that from them."
