Vancouver nightclub, editor shocked by Orlando shooting
Posted June 12, 2016 4:13 pm.
Last Updated June 12, 2016 10:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Over 5,000 kilometers away from Orlando, the general manager of a Vancouver nightclub says it’s hard not to think ‘what if?’
Brandon Folkes works at the Odyssey Bar & Nightclub, a well-known gay nightlife spot in Vancouver. He is reacting to news of a mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando.
“This is unbelievable and very close to home too as I can tell you a nightclub would be an absolute hellish environment for this kind of violence.”
Folkes says he would like to believe the kind of hatred that would cause someone to gun down a group of people would not happen here.
“I definitely feel like we have to be more attentive but at the same time I also don’t want to let a single tragedy affect our perception of our society. I do believe in Vancouver we have more of an accepting attitude. I want to feel like we’ve progressed to a point where that is almost ancient history.”
Mark Robins, contributing editor of GayVancouver.net, says it’s incomprehensible that such violent hatred could target the gay community in 2016.
“I don’t think the fact that it was at a nightclub makes a difference in terms of how absolutely shocking it is. It could have been at a festival, it could have been in San Francisco, it could have been during Pride here in Vancouver.”
Robins has covered numerous local events in his online magazine and says he doesn’t encounter many negative experiences in Vancouver.
“Every so often, something will pop up and you just shake your head and think we’ve gone so far beyond this, but that’s a rarity these days I think. It’s not that we’re perfect here north of the 49th parallel but we certainly don’t have the problems seen in the US.”
Several people in Vancouver have been displaying Pride flags to show solidarity for the local community.
