An Act of Murderers and Cowards

This week, the world bore witness to the worst mass shooting in America's history.

I admit, living in Australia, another world away, still I was shaken. Now that I think about it, what came to mind we're not the faces of my friends in the LGBT community and what it would be like to lose them, it was the faces of anguish and pain. 

It was the face of a mother breaking down knowing she'll never see her child again.

The face of a partner broken, forever missing their other half. 

It was the face of terror of a poor soul hiding in the bathroom, praying that they'll get to see everyone they love again. 

It was the face of friends in shock, as they realise they were shot, and one of them lies dead. 

It was the face of Death quietly collecting souls cut lifetimes short, the confusion and pain and sadness still etched upon their lifeless faces; all the futures that were meant to be, all the memories that were supposed to be made, lost forever.

This is not an act of God.

This is not an act of War.

This is not an act of Religion.

This is not an act of Belief.

This is not an act of Truth.

This is an act of a murderer, a coward, too terrified to face judgement for what it had done, too scared to face the light as anything other than a martyr to your band of terrorists, your band of cowards. Well you know what? You will not be thought of as one. 

You will become a monster.

You will become an it.

You will become an unmarked grave.

You will become a faceless name.

And then a nameless shadow.

And then you will disappear altogether.

But those that you killed will never be forgotten. They will be loved for eternity, and missed for eternity, while you rot in your cold grave. Yes, this is a crime upon the LGBT community, but it is also a crime on the world. We cannot ask why, because we will never get a good enough answer. All we can do is cherish those still here, comfort those affected, and stand strong together in love. For those affected, I cannot imagine what it must be like, but as I have said before, and I will say it again,

You are not alone.

It saddens me to think, that someone could ever commit an act such as this. An act, that would have an eighteen year old student, on her way to an exam, with so many more current things to be thinking about, wiping silent tears from her face from something she was listening to on the radio that had happened on the other side of the world.

Be at peace, you will always be loved.

- Michelle