During a roundtable with community leaders in Orlando on Friday,
Hillary Clinton condemned the terrorist attack against the LGBT
community that killed 49 Americans and injured dozens more at The Pulse
nightclub in June. Clinton reiterated her commitment to addressing gun violence and disrupting global networks
that terrorists use to execute these attacks. Pointing to the need to
pull together against hate and bigotry, Clinton said, “We have to stand
against hate and bigotry. I was really moved by everyone who stood in
solidarity with the victims and families here in Orlando, with the LGBT
community, the Latino community, the Muslim community, with law
enforcement and others, who have been truly tested and tried in the face
of such horror and evil. People from all walks of life came together to
help and support one another.” Clinton’s remarks, as transcribed, are below:
“Well
Mayor, thank you for that because that’s exactly why I am came here. To
listen and learn from this community that has shown such grace and
commitment to those who were lost, to their families and to all who were
affected by this terrible event. I want to start by thanking you for
your leadership. You were a steady and very compassionate voice
throughout this terrible ordeal. I thank everyone who is here
representing various aspects of the Orlando community.
I am
pleased that my longtime friend and former colleague Senator Nelson is
here as well. I want to just say a few words because I really am here to
listen to what your experiences have been and what we do need to do
together. We need to acknowledge and be very clear who this attack
targeted: the Latino LGBT community, by any measure was the community
that was most severely impacted by this terrible attack. What does that
mean? Well, among other things, it means that it is still dangerous to
be LGBT in America. I think it’s an unfortunate fact, but one that needs
to be said, that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are
more likely than any other group in our country to be the targets of
hate crimes. They face a very complicated, intersecting sets of
challenges in general, and specifically even more so as people of color.
So
after meeting with several representatives of the families, including a
mother who lost her beloved son, I want to underscore what I have heard
from so many across our country, but particularly from here in Orlando.
We have to stand against hate and bigotry. I was really moved by
everyone who stood in solidarity with the victims and families here in
Orlando, with the LGBT community, the Latino community, the Muslim
community, with law enforcement and others, who have been truly tested
and tried in the face of such horror and evil. People from all walks of
life came together to help and support one another.
There are
several things I think we do have to do at the national level to support
communities like this one. We do have to take on the epidemic of gun
violence, particularly assault weapons, the havoc and horror that they
bring in their wake is just no longer tolerable. And we have to be
willing to stand as one and demand changes from lawmakers at the
federal, state, and local level.
Second, we have to disrupt and
dismantle the global online network that radicalizes people here in the
United States, that even unfortunately, infects the thinking and
attitudes of people in our communities, in their homes. They are
communicated with, they are inspired, and they are even directed, and
we’ve got to do a better job to stop that.
So we have a lot of
work ahead of us – and I am very much looking forward to hearing from
the panelists who are with us who represent a fraction of the community
that has responded so lovingly. And I will do everything I can, both in
this campaign, but after it, to stand with you and to support you and to
try to promote the kinds of changes that will prevent this from
happening to other people, other families and other communities in the
future.”
