Vice President Kamala Harris used her speech about hate crimes at the United We Stand Summit to give a platform to Pulse Nightclub shooting survivor Brandon Wolf, who opened as her keynote speaker.
The summit started Thursday as an effort by the Biden administration to counter the harmful effects of hate-related violence. Citing a number of devastating shootings throughout the year targeting specific populations, the summit website says, “Each one of these incidents has left communities shattered, our nation grieving and has torn at the soul of our Nation.”
The summit aimed to counter the “destructive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety, mobilize diverse sectors of society and communities across the country to these dangers, and put forward a shared, inclusive, bipartisan vision for a more united America,” the website continues.
Wolf currently works with the LGBTQ rights group Equality Florida and is a nationally recognized LGBTQ civil rights advocate and anti-gun violence proponent. He was at Pulse Nightclub, an LGBTQ nightclub, on June 12, 2016, where 49 people were killed and 53 were injured during the venue’s “Latin Night.” The majority of the victims were LGBTQ and Latinx, and it was the deadliest attack on LGBTQ folks in the history of the U.S.
Wolf started by nodding to his fellow survivors, praising their courage in the years since the massacre. He recounted the night that “turned (his) life upside down.” He was in the bathroom washing his hands when he first heard gunshots and made it to an emergency exit, though he says he lost two close friends.
“My best friends—our stolen loved ones—They’re not just numbers or statistics. They’re missing faces at birthday parties. They’re empty seats at dinner tables. They are the human cost of hate violence. Rejecting extremism, combating violence—Those things are not partisan issues. They’re American issues,” Wolf says.
It’s a particularly relevant conversation, as FBI statistics for the year show that 20% of hate crimes nationally are motivated by sexual orientation. Crimes motivated by gender identity also took a stark jump to 2.7% from 0.5% in previous years.
Harris nodded to Wolf after taking the stage, commending his courage born out of a violent tragedy. “Long after the cameras left the scene of that horrific crime, you have used your voice to represent the voices of so many,” Harris says. “Consistently you have been doing this work. You inspire so many of us, and I thank you for your leadership.”
Harris also used the speech to announced a federal government response to the national increase in hate crimes, where they plan to reach out to affected communities.
“I strongly believe no one should ever be made to fight alone—not on this,” Harris says. “We must stand together—students, parents, educators, faith leaders, business leaders, and law enforcement officials. And we must clearly say that a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us. We are at an inflection point in our history and, indeed, in our democracy.”
Watch Wolf’s speech here:
Screenshot courtesy of Equality Florida on YouTube
