Our thoughts go out to victims of deadly attack at gay bar leading to cancellation of Oslo Pride
We are shocked and heartbroken to hear about the shooting at Oslo’s London Pub, a popular gay bar, that left two people dead and twenty one gravely wounded. The police are treating this as a terrorist attack. Oslo Pride, which was supposed to have taken place today, has been cancelled for safety reasons.
Our hearts go out to the victims and their loved ones.
This news is tough, on all of us in the community, as once again, the scene of this tragedy was a gay club, one of the rare places meant to be a safe space for LGBTQ people, and where they are to be able to enjoy themselves and find some respite from the inequalities and pressures they face in everyday life.
The cancellation of Oslo pride as a result is a bitter pill to swallow - necessary for safety, today, but hopefully a safe Oslo pride can be held in the coming weeks or months in honor of the victims.
If ever anyone thought “pride is not necessary anymore”, this is your answer.
We believe that we should not stop fighting for our safe spaces now out of fear, because it is this very fear and isolation that the attackers seek to create. We are stronger, we find support in our community, and will continue to seek and build that community. We will keep finding each other in our bars, we will keep fighting for our safe space and attend Pride.
If you (or someone close to you) are in need of help and support at this time, here are some resources we put together after the Orlando Pulse shootings - they may not be entirely up to date but it’s a starting point:
LGBTQ+ organisations and help / community centers all around the world
Find safe spaces for you and your fellow LGBTQ+ community members and keep adding to the resource list
Takemehomefromnarnia’s resource masterpost for LGBTQ+ helplines and chats, organisations, safe houses and more