By Rick Zbur, Executive Director
Two years ago, the world lost 49 members of our LGBTQ and Latinx communities in a tragic mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Since that night, we’ve fought every day for common sense gun safety legislation in Sacramento and our nation’s capital, recognizing the fact that ending the sickeningly repetitive cycle of gun violence in America is as much an ‘LGBTQ issue’ as any other. Because as long as someone can walk into a school or a movie theatre or a house of worship — or a nightclub — with a semi-automatic weapon, then none of us are safe.
This year, we’ve seen a movement of young leaders — unjaded, uncorrupted and unwilling to wait for the rest of us to catch up — join the LGBTQ community and our allies in the fight to end gun violence. They, along with the Pulse survivors and the families of those who were lost at Pulse, give me so much hope that for our future. As dark as these days may seem sometimes, we can take comfort in the fact that young leaders like Emma González and Naomi Wadler and Cameron Kasky are the future — and the future is fearless.
Two years after that tragic night in Orlando, Equality California continues to honor the memory of those who were taken from us — and the memories of every other child, sibling, student, friend, coworker and neighbor lost to gun violence — by rededicating ourselves to the fight for gun safety. We’re giving it everything we’ve got. And we’re incredibly grateful to have you fighting alongside us.
Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old
Amanda L. Alvear, 25 years old
Oscar A. Aracena Montero, 26 years old
Rodolfo Ayala Ayala, 33 years old
Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old
Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old
Angel Candelario-Padro, 28 years old
Juan Chavez Martinez, 25 years old
Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old
Cory James Connell, 21 years old
Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old
Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old
Simón Adrian Carrillo Fernández, 31 years old
Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old
Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old
Peter Ommy Gonzalez Cruz, 22 years old
Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old
Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old
Frank Hernandez, 27 years old
Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old
Javier Jorge Reyes, 40 years old
Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old
Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old
Anthony Luis Laureano Disla, 25 years old
Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old
Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old
Brenda Marquez McCool, 49 years old
Gilberto R. Silva Menendez, 25 years old
Kimberly Jean Morris, 37 years old
Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old
Luis Omar Ocasio Capo, 20 years old
Geraldo A. Ortiz Jimenez, 25 years old
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old
Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old
Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old
Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old
Jean Carlos Nieves Rodríguez, 27 years old
Xavier Emmanuel Serrano-Rosado, 35 years old
Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old
Yilmary Rodríguez Solivan, 24 years old
Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old
Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old
Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old
Jonathan A. Camuy Vega, 24 years old
Juan Pablo Rivera Velázquez, 37 years old
Luis Sergio Vielma, 22 years old
Franky Jimmy DeJesus Velázquez, 50 years old
Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old
Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old
