By Eduardo Morales, Ph.D.–
On Wednesday, December 7, 2022, at 5:30 pm, the official unveiling of the San Francisco Pulse Memorial was held on the second floor of the SF LGBT Center. The event was well attended, with participants honoring the victims of one of the deadliest mass shootings by a single gunman in U.S. history.
On the night of June 12, 2016, at around 2 am EST, 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded. Most of the victims were Latinx LGBTQ+ individuals who were at the Pulse club in Orlando, Florida, where attendees expected to have an evening of dancing and gathering with friends at a special “Latin Night” event. 29-year-old Omar Mateen began shooting those in the club during a performance. After many attempts to engage with Mateen, he was found dead. The incident was deemed a terrorist attack by FBI investigators.
The memorial unveiling this month began with a moment of silence to honor the Pulse victims. One of the presenters of the evening, AGUILAS Program Director Renato Talhadas, M.F.T., A.P.C.C., M.A.D.C., shared how he visited Pulse the night before the incident. He recalled the community who frequented Pulse, mentioning how important it was to them as a welcoming place for comradery and strengthening friendships.
Sadly, since that fateful June 2016 tragedy, violence toward LGBTQ+ people has continued. The most recent major occurrence was at Club Q in Colorado Springs, where five victims were killed just before midnight on November 19, 2022. Such tragedies make memorials for the victims of them all the more important.
In terms of the San Francisco Pulse Memorial, it was years in the making. In 2017, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors allocated $10,000 to creating a memorial in memory of the victims at Pulse. Since no one was designated to oversee the execution of this intent, AGUILAS staff quickly took the lead to ensure that the memorial could be realized. Our team asked members of the Latinx LGBTQ+ community what kind of memorial they would like to see. Using this community feedback, a call for proposing a design for the memorial was initiated.
Brazilian artist Wilson Ferreira was selected to design the plans. Three vendors bid on the construction of the memorial and the company Priority Graphics was selected. The Castro LGBTQ Cultural District was given the funds by the SF City and County to manage the project. It is fitting that the San Francisco LGBT Center decided to house and maintain the SF Pulse Memorial. In partnership with AGUILAS, the Center allowed planning to proceed and the date for the official unveiling was decided. In attendance at the unveiling were members of the community and representatives from several media outlets.
The SF Pulse Memorial is a shield in a chevron shape with 49 indentations in a row together with 49 columns to commemorate those who died as a result of the Pulse massacre. Behind the shield is a rainbow-colored backdrop that ties together the LGBTQ+ association. One can say that the shield symbolizes the strength of resistance in the LGBTQ+ community. Of significant historical note is that this is the first time a Brazilian artist was selected to design a memorial in San Francisco.
I strongly suggest you take the time view this inspirational work while paying respect to the victims of the largest LGBTQ+ massacre in U.S. history. The collaboration to complete this project was extraordinary and is a tribute to San Francisco as a city that supports issues of social justice. You can view the memorial during the open hours of the SF LGBT Center.
Eduardo Morales, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus, retired Distinguished Professor, and current adjunct professor at Alliant International University. He is also a licensed psychologist and a founder and current Executive Director of AGUILAS, an award-winning program for Latinx LGBTQ+. Of Puerto Rican decent, he has received numerous distinguished awards and citations, including being named a Fellow of 12 divisions of the American Psychological Association.
Nuestra Voz
Published on December 15, 2022
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