(Kevin Fallon’s article appeared in the Daily Beast, 6/12; via Pam Green.)
In the wake of a mass murder of LGBT people in Orlando, theater’s finest celebrated, grieved, paid tribute, and reminded a community in mourning that there’s joy in who they are.
When people in New York City and around the country woke up to the news that a reportedly homophobic gunman had killed 49 gay people and allies in what amounts to a LGBT mass murder, there was speculation over whether Sunday night’s Tony Awards would be—or should be—postponed.
The ruling, in one of the more poignant iterations of the classic phrase, was that the show must go on. And after watching Sunday night’s telecast, it couldn’t have been a more poignant, inspiring, and, ultimately, necessary decision that it did.
The scared, heartbroken, angry ruminating in the wake of the Orlando attack reminded us that we all have a right to life and right to love, and of the cruelty of taking that away from those 49 people—not to mention the rest of the LGBT community who is reminded that we must continue to live in fear and discomfort because of who we are.