Rufus Wainwright on Orlando Shooting: ‘Fight for Justice Only Just Begun’
Following Sunday’s shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando that left 49 victims dead and dozens in critical condition, many performers and musicians have spoken out in support of the LGBT community, including a tribute by Lady Gaga at a Los Angeles vigil.
Transgender rocker Laura Jane Grace told Rolling Stone: “You’d ideally want to think that venues and shows and clubs, places where people are going to dance and celebrating and enjoying life would be the safe place, but it’s clearly not. To think that whatever crazy fucking religious wars or whatever wars are happening out there are leaking into those areas, it’s so fucking terrifying.”
Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright also pointed to the fear that many face in the LGBT community around the globe, telling Rolling Stone, “The tragic killings in Orlando remind us that, though advances in our community have been many and great in the recent future, unfortunately, darkness patiently awaits right behind the thin border of our Western laws and ‘modern customs.’ Being out of the closet in most of the world is unequivocally a matter of life and death, and these horrifying events sadly illustrate that stark fact. I’m not saying it’s easy in the West either, but the harshness that LBGTQ people on a vast majority of this planet experience is really beyond comprehension.
“So beyond the horror we feel at the moment, I feel the true answer lies in a new sense of affinity with all other persecuted LGBTQ people and their allies across the globe. The fight for justice has only just begun, and the Orlando massacre is a staunch reminder of how brutal that battle will inevitably be. But as Oscar Wilde said, ‘The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death,’ and we certainly have love on our side.”
Watch Lady Gaga’s emotional tribute to the victims of the Orlando shooting in Los Angeles.