We are Orlando in Portland, Oregon

Living in Portland, Oregon, the emotional toll of the Orlando tragedy did not hit me until the Pride Parade passed through my neighborhood. 8,000 people marched and over 100,000 onlookers jammed the route.  It was poignant as well as celebratory.  The rhythmic beat of drums, the cheers of the crowd, the bold bright colors, and flashing of countless “We are Orlando” signs immediately brought me to tears.  “Love conquers Hate,” was the message, and I was both saddened and overjoyed to experience the moment—an unadulterated expression of our better angels.

The death of 49 people at the hand of a madman wielding an assault rife is barbarism.  Targeting members of the gay community and attributing their murder to a fanatical religious sect is also the manifestation of evil in a society founded on religious tolerance.  The effort to extend civil rights to the LGBT community is a definitive test of American democracy, a concept under siege in a world where homosexuality is punished by death in ten Muslim countries.

In the past, I viewed Pride Parades as expressions of sexuality rather than citizenship.  I understood the freedom the proverbial “Dikes on Bikes” and marchers in fairy attire and S & M gear celebrated, but virtue—the sacrifices that tempers our liberty—was not the theme.  This year, the pageant had a more sober tone. The cause célèbre was not personal freedom but solidarity, the bonding of citizens to protect rights and advance civilization.  “We are Orlando” is inclusionary: a statement that demands responsibility and it begins with ensuring that religious fanatics do not murder or persecute members of the LBGT community.

A melting pot of ethnicities and sexual persuasions, Orlando is a harbinger of the future.  It is not unlike Atlanta in the early 1960s, when Martin Luther King Jr.’s hometown surpassed Birmingham to become what geographer’s call a “Primate City,” a region’s lead city, because it was “too busy to hate.” Exploiting capital rather than race, Atlanta realized its Olympic ambitions and Orlando seemed destined to do the same.  It is an open welcoming city that has grown too fast to hate.

The tragedy that befell Orlando is a test all free people eventually face.  For democracy can never move forward by forcing one’s beliefs on others, it requires shared personal sacrifice. The future community—the one we need—must be vital and authentic, mixing freedom with what Jefferson called virtue and Christ called love. This will demand more equanimity and compassion, but what community does not?