My heart goes out to those affected by the recent shooting, which has been called the most fatal in American history.

Although I don't live in Florida, I have a lot of friends and family who do, including an aunt and young cousin who live in the suburbs of Orlando. This incident hit home for me not only because of my family, but because of who was affected: the LGBT community.

Over the years, I've met and made friends with a great deal of people who are part of the community. My own father identifies as homosexual. I have a friend who is transitioning to male, another who is pansexual, yet another who is nonbinary (does not identify with either gender), and quite a few friends who are homosexual or bisexual. I think it's safe to say that I have a lot of ties to this wonderful community, and I think I'm a better person because of it.

The outpouring of help and donations made within the first few hours of the story breaking into news headlines was just amazing. A bunch of GoFundMe pages and other fundraisers started up, one of which has already passed the million dollar mark. Blood drives and blood banks have been set up all over the state of Florida and they have had actual LINES wrapping around the buildings because so many people have come out to donate. If that doesn't bring tears to your eyes, I don't know what to tell you. It goes to show that tragedy can bring out the best in everyone, regardless of background, gender, sexual orientation, etc; every person is a person, we're all humans after all! And our humanity is what connects us and keeps us strong!

If you're in Florida/near one of the blood donation points, please consider going out and donating or offering to help with the blood drives.