One year ago today, we all woke up to the horrific news about the Pulse massacre. That same day was our annual SAGE Summer Celebration. We were all wary about attending an event and all saddened and shocked by the news. But being there gave us an opportunity to mourn alongside our people, our community. We’ll be doing the same thing this year, mourning and honoring the victims and their families alongside our people.

PROMO commits to join others across the country to turn tragedy into action and #HonorThemWithAction. PROMO commits to spending each day working to end discrimination in the Show-Me State, step by step, day by day. We commit to calling out and stopping bigotry and hate. We commit to ensuring our work is inclusive and honors the lives and experiences of our diverse community. 

Nearly every state has a statewide LGBT organization like PROMO. Florida is fortunate to have Equality Florida, led by their brilliant Executive Director Nadine Smith. In a recent HuffPost piece, Nadine said, “We have an obligation to each other – we’re supposed to look out for each other. And that spirit has continued. Part of our message with ‘Honor Them With Action’ is to say, ‘We have to do more than remember the lives taken and damaged by this brutality.’ We have to make it the message and make the world a different place where this kind of horror can’t unfold – isn’t being fed by hatred. And so those are the words that we use in fighting what we do – how are we making the world different?”

I hope you will join us in making the world different. Join us in saying their names today and committing to #HonoringThemWithAction. And especially today, we hope you are with your people and community to mourn, to heal, and to take action. If you are not, know that we are with you today and everyday.