Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus President Eli Olivarez issued the following statement:
“As our LGBTQ community and our allies celebrated Pride Month, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida was the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Too many souls were lost to hate, and too many are now injured. Our country is in mourning.
“Our nation will have to deal with this horrific tragedy of terrorism, hate crimes and mass shootings. Discrimination and hatred against LGBTQ community is clearly something we’ve lived with for decades, and even in these days of progress in equality for the LGBTQ community, we once again witness the brutality of bigotry.
“We must ask ourselves once again, who are we as a nation and what do we stand for? The answer is simple; we stand for freedom, equality, justice and liberty for all. The vigils across Texas and the Democrats who stood with the LGBTQ community show us that we will always come together and march forward. That is who we are, and that is what we do.
“Our hearts go out to the Orlando LGBTQ community, the lives lost, and their families. ”
