First Person: A refuge no more: Gays bars have been safe havens for the LGBT community; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/18/16

Walter G. Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; First Person: A refuge no more: Gays bars have been safe havens for the LGBT community:

"It was gratifying to see so many people — gay, straight and of all races — queue up to give blood for the victims in Orlando. It was touching to hear so many voices expressing outrage and solidarity. Equality Florida’s GoFundMe page to support the victims collected more than $1 million on its first day. But all this is not enough.

We need to speak up to shut down hateful rhetoric from any quarter that signals to people that it is somehow OK to kill people in a church or a gay bar.

Pittsburgh’s Fred Rogers was famous for a quote that spread across Facebook after the tragedy in Orlando: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”

We all need to be helpers. And become more caring. And end the hate.

I’ve often said that I don’t mind being known as a writer who is gay, but that I don’t want to be known as just a “gay writer.” I didn’t want the adjective to define me.

Today I am a gay writer. And today I will serve my community with my pen and my camera."