Eugene weekly., June 16, 2016, Page 9, Image 9

NEWS
B Y A L E X V. C I P O L L E
JOHN O’MALLEY WITH
STAFF AND FRIENDS OF
THE WAYWARD LAMB
EUGENE GRAPPLES WITH
ORLANDO MASSACRE
PHOTO: ALEX V. CIPOLLE
O
rlando has a welcoming LGBTQIA community, but so
does Eugene.
Local John O’Malley made this point while address-
ing a small crowd and TV crews Sunday, June 12, outside
The Wayward Lamb — a dedicated queer space and bar
in downtown Eugene.
“It affects all of us,” said O’Malley, the Lamb’s marketing
manager who also helped found the bar. “It happened in Orlando;
it could happen anywhere.”
In the early morning hours of June 12, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-
old American man, shot and killed 49 people, before being killed
himself, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida; dozens more
were injured.
It is the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. As the
mass shootings in this country pile up to absurd levels, the degree
of separation between those who are directly affected by the vio-
lence, and those who aren’t, is slowly closing.
Outside Eugene’s only dedicated queer space, O’Malley re-
called how he had attended college in Orlando and had been a
patron of Pulse, even hosting his graduation celebration there. He
pointed out that it is no accident that the shooting occurred in June
— national PRIDE month.
“Our freedoms began in dedicated queer spaces,” O’Malley
said, explaining that the LGBTQIA community is no stranger to
violent attacks, recalling the Stonewall Riot in New York City, The
Upstairs Lounge fire in New Orleans and many more.
“To the owners and staff of Pulse Orlando, and especially the
LGBTQIA community of Orange County, Florida, and the impact
this will have on all of them moving forward,” O’Malley contin-
ued, “stay strong and stay proud. The Wayward Lamb family and
the LGBTQIA community of Lane County stand in solidarity.”
The Wayward Lamb will be hosting “We Are Orlando: A Fun-
draiser for our Family” all day and night Thursday, June 16. From
11 am to 5 pm, there will be a family arts and craft session; art and
cards made at the event will be sent to survivors in Orlando.
That night, O’Malley says that 100 percent of the profits from
donated beer kegs will go to Zebra Coalition, a network of orga-
nizations that serve LGBTQIA youth in Orlando. From 10 pm to
2 am, local DJs will spin for a dance off, with local businesses
donating funds for every dancer on the floor. “We’re doing a dance
for our fallen families,” O’Malley says.
Meanwhile, local artist and activist Gwendolyn Iris organized a
candlelight vigil the evening of June 12 at Kesey Square.
“It was actually really lovely,” Iris says, estimating about 300
people showed up to the city square downtown. She says there
was a wide array of speakers, from University of Oregon student
Akilah Powell, who identifies as a queer, black non-binary person,
to Rabbi Ruhi Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein of Temple Beth Israel
and Sally Sheklow, a member of the queer community who also
writes the “Living Out” column for EW.
Rabbi Rubenstein says she told the people gathered that night,
“God is weeping with us, and devastated whenever violence hap-
pens in the name of God, by any name.”
In a later email to EW, Rubenstein stated: “It’s most important
to be standing with and raising up the voices of those marginalized
and victimized by this kind of violence, particularly LGBTQ im-
migrants and people of color, and to raise up the voices of the vast
majority of Muslims who are working and speaking out against
hatred and terror. We all have a responsibility to stand in solidar-
ity.”
“My sense is that the queer community is definitely in a height-
ened vulnerability state of mind,” Sheklow tells EW after the vigil.
While Sheklow says attitudes have shifted, she adds: “There’s so
much anti-gay sentiment that’s still rampant in the world, in the
country, in our town.”
She explains how she and others are struggling with the fact
that witnessing two men kissing, as the shooter allegedly did,
could incite anyone to violence.
“I’d like to see more men kissing each other on the mouth,”
Sheklow says, adding that seeing men embrace needs to be nor-
malized. “Why don’t we feel safe everywhere? Why can’t we be
ourselves everywhere?”
Sheklow says that the vigil raised her own awareness “beyond
her bubble,” listening to young people of color who identify as
queer. Iris agrees.
“The fact that the tragedy happened not just at a queer club but
on Latin night — that was brought up,” Iris recalls of the discus-
sion at Kesey Square. “The queer community of color — they do
face another level of discrimination.”
In repsonse to a request for comment on the tragedy, a local
Latinx (a gender-inclusive word for people of Latin descent) man
wrote this to Eugene Weekly in regard to the shooting:
“My name is JoseLuis Zamora and I am 20-year-old college
student and a homosexual Latinx man. I have been in Eugene over
three years now and consider this place my home,” he writes.
“I can’t put any amount of words to describe how deeply heart-
broken I feel to have to hear about a tragic hate crime that cost the
lives of so many queer Latinx like myself and injured many more.
Since coming out as queer and being accepted by my friends
and family, I have felt a sense of happiness in my life. I feel sad-
dened to know that we continue to live in a world where our lives
don’t matter. I am more proud as ever to be queer and am willing
and able to help my community [in] any way possible. We are a
strong community that is no longer hiding from the world. We are
humxns and please respect our life choices.”
Zamora adds: “I want to tell my community that in order to
be stronger we must unite to uplift marginalized people to be heard
and respected. No more hatred, no more discrimination in our pol-
icies. This country needs to change so we can get to a place where
love truly wins.”
• Between 4 and 6 pm on June 19, the Peace
and Dignity Indigenous Runners will be
stopping in Eugene at the Lane Community
College Longhouse. “Peace and Dignity
Journeys are spiritual runs that embody the
prophecy of the Eagle and Condor,” according to
information from local organizers. “This
prophecy mandates that at this time all
Indigenous Peoples in the Western Hemisphere
shall be reunited in a spiritual way in order to
heal our nations so we can begin to work towards
a better future for our children and generations
to come.” The journeys are every four years and
Indigenous runners start on opposite ends of
the continents, running for six months carrying
prayers and communications from community
to community. “When the runners meet at the
Kuna Nation in Panama City, Panama, it will
symbolize all Indigenous Peoples joining
together in a spiritual way to manifest the
prophecy of the Eagle and Condor.”
There will be a Native American welcome and
ceremony upon arrival and a potluck dinner to
follow. The local community will be hosting
these runners on their journey to Panama. And
on June 10 the runners will start again, heading
to Reedsport and Gold Beach on the coast, and
then down to Smith River, California. Donations
such as running shoes, running socks, power
bars, granola, seeds, nuts and dry fruit are
appreciated. Organizers request that any
monetary transactions take place outside of the
Longhouse. For more info call 541-344-1846.
The Longhouse is at the LCC main campus,
4000 East 30th Avenue.
• The city of Eugene seeks public input on its
first local comprehensive transportation plan.
The 2035 Transportation System Plan (2035
TSP) “sets expectations for how the roads,
sidewalks, bike paths, rail lines and airport
should change with the growing community
over the next 20 years,” according to a press
release. The TSP addresses pressures such as
growth and climate change as well as “people’s
desire for more travel options, convenience and
safety.”
The final draft of the plan is available at
eugenetsp.org. A public hearing is 6 pm Tuesday,
June 21, at Harris Hall at 125 E. 8th Avenue, and
people can submit comments or suggest
changes. Comments can also be submitted to
Kurt Yeiter, transportation senior planner, at
kurt.m.yeiter@ci.eugene.or.us.
• Common Cause Oregon and more than 35
democracy and environmental organizations
have come together to showcase “how the oil
industry tries to influence the state
government” in a series of Dirty Energy & Dirty
Money forums. The Eugene forum is 6 pm
Tuesday, June 21, at the Unitarian Universalist
Church. Speakers include Lane County
Commissioner Pete Sorenson, Angela Crowley-
Koch from the Oregon Environmental Council,
Daniel Lewkow from Common Cause Oregon,
Lisa Arkin from Beyond Toxics and Linda Lynch
from the League of Women Voters of Lane
County. Forums address dark money and how
much money the oil industry and its allies give
to the Legislature, money spent on lobbying and
how “shadowy-organizations used scare tactics
and attack ads to try and dissuade legislators”
from passing the a recent bill addressing climate
change. The Eugene forum is free and open to
the public.
To see the full video of John O’Malley’s June 12 statement visit EW online at ow.ly/dfz-
V301glNH.
eugeneweekly.com • June 16, 2016
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