Social media has responded to the Orlando shootings in the best possible way
Today saw the worst mass shooting in recent US history as a lone gunman killed at least 50, and injured 53 at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
The horrific crime has sent shockwaves across the world, with US president Barack Obama calling the shooting ‘heartbreaking’, and vice president Joe Biden offering his 'prayers and condolences to all the families and loved ones of the victims’.
And as news of the killer’s identity emerged, speculation over his motivation was rife on social media. Many suggested it was religiously motivated, whilst others saw it as a direct hate crime against the LGBT community.
Republican nominee Donald Trump took time out of his schedule to tweet (extremely insensitively) about the event, causing a huge backlash from many twitter users:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/742034549232766976
https://twitter.com/SophiaBush/status/742063610013339648
https://twitter.com/rachelsklar/status/742050130560438274
https://twitter.com/ThePerezHilton/status/742067413710077957
But whilst the arguments and anger raged on, solidarity for the LGBT community was slowly breaking through on social media.
This was Guardian commentator Owen Jones' immediate response to the tragedy:
And a deeply heartfelt post from Michael Burcham.
And on Twitter, the hashtag #LoveIsLove is trending at number 2, and has now had over 300k tweets so far today.
On what has been a truly dreadful day for the LGBT community, here are our pick of the most uplifting tweets that give us hope for a more unified future.
https://twitter.com/halsey/status/742090782157512704
https://twitter.com/NevSchulman/status/742078441063866368
https://twitter.com/TheMendesMoon/status/742069496576397312
https://twitter.com/AllTheFkinLove/status/742068700048674816
https://twitter.com/6ixkink/status/742067993866293248
https://twitter.com/666joshler/status/742067687157846017
https://twitter.com/intomahoran/status/742068021380931585
https://twitter.com/blink21pilots/status/742067751074816000
https://twitter.com/ConceptOfficial/status/742066613160148992