Last edited Mon Jun 13, 2016, 05:55 AM - Edit history (1)

Just six hours before Pulse’s chilling Facebook update, the club invited Latinos to drop in on Saturday for its Latino-themed night. Puerto Rican drag queen Kenya Michaels was set to be one of the guests; former Ru Paul’s Drag Race contestant Yara Sofia later reported that Michaels made it out safely. According to USA Today, Pulse describes itself as “not just another gay club,” and providing a safe space for the LGBTQ Latino community is proof of that.

Amidst speculation that Mateen was motivated by Islamic extremism and renewed conversations about gun control, the media has failed to report that this attack targeted LGBTQ communities of color. A 2012 report on hate violence against the gay community found that LGBTQ people of color were 1.82 times more likely to experience physical violence. In 2012, 73.1 percent of anti-LGBTQ homicide victims were people of color – with black/African Americans accounting for 54 percent and Latinos for 15 percent, according to Colorlines.

Former Pulse dancer Marco Di’Costa told the Miami Herald that the club attracted people of all backgrounds, and that Saturday’s Latin nights often drew many Latinos.

http://remezcla.com/culture/pulse-mass-shooting-latin-night/
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Sadly, there will be many more Latino-named casualties.

Very very strange - gays and Latinos - the prime targets of the racist American right wing.