Powerful words in wake of tragedy

The man’s words are powerful in the wake of such a senseless tragedy.

“Unified by the rhythm of the music at Pulse, your color, your creed or your sexual orientation didn’t matter. As the partiers piled in, I would have to dip, weave and dance my way through the packed crowd as drag queens lip-synched on stage. I often found myself cheering along, caught up in the infectious spirit, the whistles and claps. ‘Oh,’ I’d think, ‘if my friends who made fun of me for working at the bar could see me now.’

Those are the words of Josh Replogle, a video journalist for The Associated Press, based in Miami. He wrote it in the aftermath of the deadly attack at the Orlando nightclub early Sunday. You see, Replogle worked at the nightclub eight years ago selling alcohol shots and making a good amount of money while he was in college.

This week, he was back as a journalist, covering the unspeakable tragedy that happened in Pulse, a gay nightclub. But what makes Replogle’s remarks so powerful is he is not gay. He was just a straight guy working in a gay club because the money was better than he could make in other places.

“Pulse was a big part of my personal life, and it remains a big part of me eight years later,” he wrote. “It shaped me. It made me a better person because it dissolved my ignorance of a community fighting for its rights. It showed me that community was full of people with big hearts who took care of each other and protected each other, too often when their own families had rejected them.”

Replogle is right on so many levels.

Sometimes the best way to understand those who are different is to be a minority in their world. For many of us, it is so uncomfortable that we can’t or won’t do it. We chose to sit in our comfort zone and render judgment.

But for those who do, they often come out on the other side, looking at the world in a far different light. And, I would argue, they are better people for the experience.

We all have our bias and prejudices. If you say you don’t, you’re lying. After nearly 35 years as a journalist, I think I know mine pretty well and have worked to overcome them. But I have them, just like you do.

Recently, a drag queen in Dothan, Ala., by the stage name of Ambrosia Starling took on Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who told the state’s judges to ignore federal law and not marry same-sex couples. Moore has been suspended and has blamed the drag queen for the controversy.

“Every bully always picks on the weakest kid in the room, and he thought that was going to be the drag queen,” Starling told The Associated Press. “A lot of people make that mistake.”

Think about that, the most powerful jurist in Alabama is blaming a drag queen because he believes same-sex couples should not be able to form a civil union.

It sounds like he should spend some time serving shots in a gay nightclub. It might open up his mind and his heart.

This story was originally published June 15, 2016 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Powerful words in wake of tragedy."