![\"WESH](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768911270_880_wesh.png\")
<\/p>\nEquality Florida launches #HonorThemWithAction for Pulse 10-year remembrance<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTHIS FRIDAY IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT DAY IN OUR COMMUNITY. FRIDAY, JUNE 12TH MARKS TEN YEARS SINCE THE MASS SHOOTING AT THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB IN ORLANDO. HARD TO BELIEVE IT\u2019S BEEN A DECADE. 49 PEOPLE WERE KILLED, 58 OTHERS WERE HURT, AND COUNTLESS LIVES WERE FOREVER CHANGED. HERE WE ARE THAT TEN YEARS LATER AND OUR COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO HONOR THE VICTIMS AND SHOW AN OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT AND REMEMBRANCE. THERE ARE SO MANY EVENTS AND INITIATIVES THROUGHOUT CENTRAL FLORIDA THAT WE CAN ALL TAKE PART IN TO HONOR THE VICTIMS, SURVIVORS, AND THEIR LOVED ONES. AND JOINING ME THIS MORNING, WE HAVE JENNIFER MARCIAL OCASIO WITH EQUALITY FLORIDA. GREAT TO SEE YOU THIS MORNING. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING US HERE. YEAH, LET\u2019S JUST TALK ABOUT JUNE 12TH, 2016. YOU TOOK A DEEP BREATH THERE. WHAT DO YOU FEEL HERE AT THE ALMOST TEN YEAR MARK TO REMEMBER THIS DEVASTATING TRAGEDY FOR ORLANDO? IT\u2019S CRAZY, RIGHT, TO THINK THAT I WAS A REPORTER BACK THEN WORKING IN PUERTO RICO. SO MY EXPERIENCE WITH PULSE WAS VERY DIFFERENT. IT WAS LIKE CONNECTING WITH THE PUERTO RICAN FAMILIES THAT WERE GETTING TO THE AIRPORT, THAT WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE LIST OF NAMES MEANT. LIKE, I LITERALLY JUST GOT CHILLS, LIKE JUST REMEMBERING THAT DAY TO SOME OF THESE MOMS WHO WERE FINDING OUT THEY LOST THEIR CHILDREN AT PULSE NIGHTCLUB. THE ISSUE WAS ALSO LIKE THE LACK OF SPANISH AT THE TIME. SO THERE WERE A LOT OF MOMS THAT WERE HEARING NAMES, AND THEY DIDN\u2019T EVEN KNOW WHETHER THAT MEANT IF MY LOVED ONE WAS ALIVE OR NOT. SO IT WAS A VERY, VERY COMPLICATED MOMENT. YOU WERE HERE. SO YOU KNOW HOW THAT EXPERIENCE WAS OVER HERE. I MOVED TO ORLANDO 2017. SO EVER SINCE, LIKE MY CONNECTION WITH THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY, WITH EVERYONE THAT WAS INVOLVED WITH PAUL\u2019S HAS BEEN LIKE LIFE CHANGING AND NOW BEING ABLE TO BE AT EQUALITY FLORIDA, BEING ABLE TO ADVOCATE FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY. IT\u2019S LITERALLY LIKE TIME HAS BEEN AT A STOP. WHEN YOU SPEAK TO THESE FAMILIES. FOR THEM, IT HASN\u2019T BEEN TEN YEARS. FOR THEM, IT HASN\u2019T BEEN A YEAR, HASN\u2019T BEEN A MONTH. IT\u2019S LIKE THEY RELIVE THAT MOMENT DAY IN AND DAY OUT. YEAH. AND, AND WE\u2019RE ALL GOING TO COME TOGETHER HERE BECAUSE OF THIS EQUALITY FLORIDA CAMPAIGN. YOU\u2019RE HELPING LEAD THIS. JENNIFER, TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT\u2019S GOING ON THIS WEEK. YEAH, PRECISELY. SPEAKING ABOUT HOW IT\u2019S BEEN TEN YEARS. RIGHT. AND PEOPLE ARE GOING THROUGH ALL THE EMOTIONS AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, WHAT CAN I DO TO HONOR THE VICTIMS, TO HONOR THE SURVIVORS, TO HONOR OUR COMMUNITY, RIGHT IN THE MOMENT THAT PAUL\u2019S HAPPENED, SOMETHING MAGICAL HAPPENED IN ORLANDO TOO, RIGHT? THE COMMUNITY CAME TOGETHER LIKE IT DIDN\u2019T MATTER. YOUR POLITICAL PARTY DIDN\u2019T MATTER YOUR NATIONALITY. EVERYBODY WAS TOGETHER. SO FOR THIS TEN YEARS, WE WERE LIKE, WHAT CAN WE DO? AND HOW CAN WE HELP OUR COMMUNITY FIGURE OUT HOW THEY CAN SUPPORT? RIGHT? SO WE CAME UP WITH TEN ACTIONS THAT YOU CAN DO FOR THE TEN YEAR REMEMBRANCE OF PAUL\u2019S. SO YOU CAN COME UP WITH YOUR OWN ACTIONS. BUT AT EQUALITY FLORIDA, YOU CAN FOLLOW ALL OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES, AND WE HAVE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE\u2019VE BEEN ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THROUGHOUT THE TEN YEARS AND TEN THINGS THAT WE CAN DO FROM LIKE DONATING BLOOD, LIKE CALLING OUT THEIR NAMES, LIKE DONATING TO, TO A SCHOOL PROGRAM. LIKE IT\u2019S ALSO VERY EASY TO FORGET ALL THE GREAT THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED SINCE BECAUSE OF THE POLITICAL CLIMATE, BECAUSE OF ALL THE THINGS HAPPENING. SO WE JUST WANTED TO REMIND THE COMMUNITY THAT THERE\u2019S BEEN A LOT OF CHANGE HAPPENING THROUGHOUT THIS TEN YEARS AS WELL. ABSOLUTELY. AND THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER THINGS GOING ON. YOU\u2019VE GOT ANOTHER NONPROFIT GROUP. THEY\u2019RE LOOKING TO HOST SOMETHING, AND OUR OWN NANCY ALVAREZ IS GOING TO BE SPEAKING, RIGHT? YEAH. AND THEY\u2019LL AMBIENT GROUP, WHICH LITERALLY CAME OUT AFTER THIS SITUATION WITH PAUL\u2019S TO KIND OF LIKE UNITE THE PUERTO RICAN COMMUNITY AND THE LATINO COMMUNITY HERE IN OUR REGION. AND AMBIENT IS CELEBRATING WHAT THEY\u2019RE CALLING A BACKING FOR THE 49 ANGELS. AND THAT IS A TRADITION THAT IS CELEBRATED IN PUERTO RICO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, AND IN OUR LATINO CULTURES TO CELEBRATE LIFE. IT\u2019S LIKE A DANCE. IT\u2019S LIKE A FESTIVITY BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A TRAGIC MOMENT, WE WANT TO CELEBRATE THEIR LIVES, ESPECIALLY HOW THEY WERE, RIGHT? THEY WERE DANCING. THEY WERE FULL OF ENERGY. SO WE\u2019RE CELEBRATING FOR THE ANGELS. ON JUNE 11TH, A CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR THE 49. AND WE ALSO KNOW A VERY SPECIAL GUEST IS GOING TO BE THERE. IN ADDITION TO OUR OWN NANCY ALVAREZ, FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN GABBY GIFFORDS, A GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION ADVOCATE, IS GOING TO BE GIVING SOME REMARKS. WE KNOW SHE WAS SHOT AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT AND FOREVER CHANGED HER LIFE. WE KNOW HER HUSBAND, ASTRONAUT MARK KELLY, ALSO SPEAKS AGAINST GUNS. AND SO WE\u2019RE GOING TO HEAR FROM HER AT THAT. WE\u2019VE GOT A LINK TO ALL THIS INFORMATION BECAUSE THERE\u2019S SO MUCH THAT WE DIDN\u2019T EVEN BEGIN TO TOUCH THE SURFACE ON. BUT I THINK IT\u2019S SO BEAUTIFUL, YOU KNOW, HOW LITTLE ACTS CAN HONOR THE 49. AND I, I DO THINK IT\u2019S SO POWERFUL TO HEAR HOW THE WORLD, YOU KNOW, WE WERE LIVING IN ORLANDO, BUT THE WORLD WAS CHANGED BY THIS TRAGEDY, OF COURSE. AND LIKE, YOU GET FRUSTRATED, RIGHT? BECAUSE WE THINK THAT NOTHING HAS CHANGED. OR WE THINK LIKE, I CAN\u2019T DO ANYTHING, BUT THERE\u2019S SO MANY LITTLE ACTIONS THAT WE CAN DO THAT CAN CHANGE. LIKE ONE PERSON\u2019S LIVES. FOR EXAMPLE, I\u2019M WEARING ALL THIS COLORS. I\u2019VE MADE IT A POINT THROUGH LIKE PRIDE MONTH THAT I\u2019M GOING TO BRING OUT ALL THE COLORS, ALL THE RAINBOWS. SO THAT CAN BE AN ACTION. IT CAN BE SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS THAT. LETTING AN LGBTQ YOUNG PERSON. YOU\u2019RE NOT ALONE. IT CAN BE ANYTHING THAT YOU FEEL THAT YOU CAN DO FOR SOMEONE OR FOR OUR COMMUNITY. WE\u2019RE WELCOMING THAT. JENNIFER. THAT\u2019S FANTASTIC. WE\u2019RE GOING TO POST UP ON WESH.COM, MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WH\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Equality Florida launches #HonorThemWithAction for Pulse 10-year remembrance<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tUpdated: 10:10 AM EDT Jun 8, 2026\n\t\t<\/p>\n