Summer is now (unofficially) behind us, swept unceremoniously out last weekend by the non-materialized Hurricane Hermine. With the lazy hazy days of summer behind us, schools are getting back in session, legislatures are reconvening and the push to the next milestone, the end of the year, is on.
For some, the change of the seasons is bittersweet. LGBT parents may be bidding goodbye to the downtime they enjoyed with their kids this summer, while also looking forward to the achievements and adventures that await their kids. LGBT lobbyists and advocates are likely getting ready to kick their work into high gear, prepping for both struggles and successes. We in the LGBT media world are ready to roll up our sleeves after the August doldrums and dive into our busy season, a time that both keeps us busy but which always promises exciting days in the newsroom.
Looking back on this summer, the LGBT community experienced one of its worst tragedies in memory: the mass murder of 49 people at an LGBT club in Orlando. The Pulse shooting showed our community the worst of humanity but also the best, as thousands of Philadelphians mourned together at City Hall and just as many turned out for a fundraising night in the Gayborhood, netting 10 times more than the fundraising goal for the victims.
Like all, it was a summer of good and of bad, and this next phase of the year is also sure to hold its own triumphs and pitfalls. Yet, as we saw this summer, our community has the strength and resilience to weather obstacles, a lesson that can be extended to our personal circumstances as well. The energy and momentum that the LGBT community showed this summer, and has exhibited in the last few years, are inspiring.
Endings are never easy, and neither are beginnings — but each brings promise. And we look forward to the promise that the remainder of 2016 holds for all of us.