Sordoni Art Gallery

PULSE Nightclub: 49 Elegies is a series made by artist John Gutoskey to honor and commemorate the 49 individuals massacred at the LGBTQ Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016. Gutoskey uses symbols that are personal to him and his experience as a gay man, and combines them with other cultural and spiritual iconography that are more universally understood to create the 49 visual elegies or poems.

Although I did not know any of the victims personally, I felt an overwhelming sense of anger followed by a broad feeling of loss and an almost metaphysical sadness that this had happened to the LGBTQ community; that it had happened inside what was supposed to be a safe, sacred queer space; and that it had happened to a minority within a minority, as it was Latin night at PULSE Nightclub.

During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night. The dance kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for. It didn’t look like we were going to win then, and we did. It doesn’t feel like we’re going to win now, but we could. Keep fighting, keep dancing.

Presented in partnership with the NEPA Pride Project, Out Loud: LGBTQIA+ Visibility in NEPA explores remembrance, resistance, and resilience in the LGBTQIA+ community. These concepts sometimes feel like the pillars of queer existence.

Remembering all those who came before us, existing in silence and being erased. For those who were brave enough to be seen, to face persecution, dying at the hands of fellow humans and disease that was viewed as "punishment." Fighting for existence, for acceptance in the eyes of both government and neighbors - literally throwing bricks to demand justice. And, finally, existence rooted in resilience, unapologetic truth, and joy. Knowing that queer people have always been here, and will continue to be here.