A bartender at the Stonewall Orlando, which is staying open, just a three-minute drive from Parliament House, said he keeps eyeing the parking lot. They already work closely with the Orlando Police Department and have security guards and strict safety guidelines, he said. Parliament House also blocked off two hotel rooms where they are offering counseling services.Įvanicki said Parliament House is doing everything it can to make sure people feel safe. “They are going to be out of work for some time.” “We’re offering to the Pulse bartenders - if they would like to and they are ready to - they can come out and work that bar as well, because those employees are certainly going to suffer,” Evanicki said. Starting this weekend, he said, they will open a “Pulse bar” in their courtyard where 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Pulse employees. They are also planning a big benefit concert called “Unbreakable” for June 25. The club plans to have another fundraiser on Thursday for a “Unidos” (United) Latin night, which holds special significance because Pulse was throwing a Latin night during the attack. Parliament House waved its admission fee on Tuesday and asked for donations at the door for victims of the tragedy. So that’s what we’re here to do,” he said. “The queens got ready, and it was a very powerful, emotional show that people just wanted that sense of normalcy. They were going to call it off, but their customers insisted that the show go on. until midnight on Sundays but they were not sure if that would be appropriate so soon after the tragedy. Parliament House, he said, typically has drag shows from 10 p.m.
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We took it down after the city said, ‘No,’ but it was shared so many times within that five minutes that 1,400 people showed up,” Evanicki said. “We literally had a post on Facebook for less than five minutes. They hosted a small vigil on Sunday night but stopped advertising after the City of Orlando asked that people not organize vigils for fear that they might run police resources too thin. On Sunday, after hearing of the tragedy, the management at Parliament House was not sure what to do, but the staff knew they wouldn’t close. “It’s sort of a cornerstone and a meeting place in the community for people to come be with their friends, other members of the LGBT community, to celebrate, to be a shoulder to cry on,” Evanicki said.Ī few old-timers have said that the bar filled up after the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 because people just wanted to be somewhere they knew was comfortable and safe. Tim Evanicki, the entertainment manager at Parliament House, said the bar has been in Orlando for 41 years and has always been open at times of crisis for their community - this time is no different. Patrons were enjoying drinks and catching up as they usually would, but many of the conversations have been a bit more serious, a bit more somber.
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Just next door to Woodstock, another popular gay bar and hotel in Orlando, the Parliament House, was open for business. He hopes it will help push the campaign for stricter laws limiting access to guns. That said, Stern said he also hopes the Pulse tragedy will be remembered as more than something that happened to the LGBT community, or something that happened to the city of Orlando.
News gay bar shooting pro#
Orlando’s sports teams - the NBA’s Magic, the men’s and women’s pro soccer teams and local hockey team and arena football - are selling #OrlandoUnited T-shirts emblazoned with rainbow hearts. Straight allies like President Obama and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer have spoken passionately and publicly in support of the gay community.
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Stern said the show of support for LGBT people in Orlando on the national and local levels has been unlike anything he’s seen before in the aftermath of an act of violence against the community. “He was amazing, one of the sweetest persons you would ever meet in your life. He used to dance at Woodstock and was beloved by everyone there. Leigh Stern, operations manager at Woodstock (at right), with his friend, shooting victim Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado.