Panti Bliss has opened up on the tragic Orlando shooting that happened at Pulse nightclub in June this year.
She spoke at the ILGA-Europe’s Equality Gala in Brussels about the difficult few weeks it’s been and how the media discussed the shooting.
“It has been a difficult and tumultuous few weeks for the LGBTI community and of course for Europe,” she admitted.
Orlando: Panti Bliss opened up about the tragedy in Orlando| VIPIRELAND.COM
Panti opened up that sometimes, some people in the LGBTI community can forget that they live in a privileged bubble.
“I think often for many of us, especially standing here in the heart of socially liberal Europe and those of us who come from socially liberal cities, can be very easy for us to forget that we actually live in a very privileged bubble,” she admitted at the gala.
“Sometimes that bubble can be so clear that we don’t even remember that it’s there until we walk into it’s edges and then we realise actually how small it is.
“A bubble that is sometimes so pure, in a sense, that we forget that it’s there until something from the outside or from the inside pricks it and we realise what a flimsy defence it is.”
Privileged: The Mayo native admitted that sometimes we can forget where we come from | VIPIRELAND.COM
The Queen of Ireland admitted that Orlando was in their privileged bubble, but the media chose not to acknowledge that it was a homophobic attack.
“Orlando, Florida is firmly inside our bubble, and yet that bubble did not protect 49 souls from hate a number of weeks ago,” she revealed.
“We saw that in the days and weeks after Orlando when news outlets and politicians and others shied away from using the word ‘homophobia’ to describe that attack.
“They felt more comfortable, in a sense, that it was an attack on ‘freedom’ or an attack on ‘liberalism’ or an attack on ‘the West.’
“Well meaningly, they said ‘we are all Orlando’ when in actual fact, we’re not all Orlando, but we [the LGBTI community] are Orlando.”
Homophobia: Panti admitted that the media shied away from the word | VIPIRELAND.COM
Panti concluded that whilst she’s never been to Pulse nightclub in Orlando, it was from the similar experiences in life that made the tragedy hit home.
“We all know what it’s like to be the subject of ridicule or scorn or sometimes even worse.”
“I know the kind of people that were there, I know the fun that they were having, I know the freedom that they felt to be able to be themselves, totally.
“I have never been to Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and yet I have spent some of the best times of my life there,” Panti added.
