July 21, 2016• byMichael Strangeways

As part of the King County Library System’s program Everyone’s Talking About It, the Redmond, Washington branch library will host a community forum on Thursday, July 28, 2016 that will focus on the June 12th massacre of 49 people in the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The victims were mostly LGBTQ and the majority were members of Orlando’s vibrant Latinx community.

The forum will take place between 7 pm and 8: 30 pm and be facilitated by Luzviminda “Lulu” Carpenter, Community Advocate and a member of the Seattle LGBT Commission as well as host of #LuluNation + Crew on HollowEarth Radio.

From the KCLS website:

KCLS’ year-long series, Everyone’s Talking About It, is based on the belief that civic engagement and community action can replace fear with empowerment, help strangers become friends, and turn anxiety into constructive action. We get there by simply talking with one another, and often with local experts, agencies, and organizations designed to define and resolve problems. Because libraries are politically neutral, fact-focused public resource, they provide a safe space for civil civic conversations. You’ll find the full schedule of events at http://kcls.org/browse_program/guide/.

The King County Library System is hosting a special community forum at the Redmond Library Thursday, July 28, to help work our way through issues raised in the wake of the recent massacre in Orlando. Join us for a community forum to share, process, and heal. As details of Orlando massacre unfolded, so did varying layers of complexity. We learned that it took place at a popular Gay nightclub, putting the LGBTQ community on alert that a place of refuge was attacked. It occurred on “Latino Night” and later many of the victims’ names were notably of Latinx descent. In the aftermath of this tragedy, Muslim communities anticipated that they would all be labeled as terrorists. In addition to mourning and coping from another act of violence, various communities are grappling with issues of safety based on identity.

Orlando: At the Intersections of Tragedy

Thursday, July 28, 7-8:30pm

KCLS Redmond Library

15990 NE 85th Street
Redmond WA 98052

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About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.