This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
Icreatedthis now viral meme on the morning of the Orlando shootings. I had been studying the Mapplethorpe photo for a week -- having just seen it at the Los Angeles Museum of Art.
It was like some predestined preparation.
The photo: Robert Mapplethorpe’s Two Men Dancing, 1984. Two kings dance in a formal and even starchy manner -- skin to skin. The man in the foreground: he’s deep inside his passion, his yearning. His partner is perhaps cautious.
Advertisement
Mapplethorpe’s photo captures a moment of awkward beauty. Maybe the men are merely playing at being kings, the string attached to that crown so evident -- because in so many cultures men yet ask the question: can we really have this? Each other? Are we allowed to dance?
When I learned of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub, I immediately turned to the photo that I had been fixated on. I was heartbroken, and kept thinking, all those people, they just wanted to dance. And then they were cut down, slaughtered. A simple night out dancing with friends had turned into a massacre.
I paired Mapplethorpe’s photo, with all its layered pathos, with these words:
For all those who just wanted to dance. Orlando. June 12, 2016
This new image captured the exact heartache that I felt for my brothers and sisters in Orlando.
My meme went viral, with posts by Ricky Martin and others. Many said it encapsulated their sorrow, and stories flowed from every corner of the world to my inbox.
And now, after nearly two weeks, the words I wrote and the image have been repurposed in magnificent ways –– for fundraisers, and for both private and public expressions of grief. The most astounding: several survivors have begun to tattoo the image and words onto their arms.
Advertisement
The photo of the tattoo below comes from David Cotton, who tells me a survivor of the attacks had it tattooed on his arm a few days after the attacks. The tattoo is in memory of someone very close to him who lost his life at Pulse. The survivor has asked that the photo be shared on social media.
I especially like this tattoo because it reimagines my original intent, personalizing it for this survivor. Some have said that my meme whitewashes the fact that it was Latin night at Pulse, and that mostly people of color were killed. When I created the meme and posted it, I was aware of just one thing: lots of people had been shot at a gay nightclub in Orlando.
I am heartened then, that people are taking my words, and even Mapplethorpe's image, and making it their own.
Others are cashing in. A clothing manufacturer has used the words, "For all those who just wanted to dance. Orlando. June 12, 2016" on a new line of T-shirts, hoodies and tank tops. $22.90 –– $37.90.
Advertisement
Nothing like making a buck off mass murder. What came from my heart is now being used to sell murder-commemoration clothing, and yet I have no control over it. Gross. It's a wild and woolly Internet out there.
Collective grief – predictable hate
For many days after the shooting, I found myself connected to a kind of potent, collective grief with its own strange beauty. One woman's son had gone to see her, instead of to Pulse that night. She told me she is beside herself in wonder but also feels a kind of terror: her vulnerability so completely cracked open.
But the hate also came, and was sadly predictable: the image of two men being intimate is yet an anathema, just as it was for the Orlando killer.
The Mapplethorpe image: it propels people to love, and it incites them to kill.
Disgraced masculinity. It's an age-old problem rooted in culture and religion. Men and power and fear. At deeper levels, I believe all males fear each other, don't quite trust each other. Men are somehow not meant to submit, to embrace -- to dance. As if mere and simple touch is what will bring this world down.
But for the LGBTQ community, such intimacy is our exact and deep strength.
It is precisely what stops men from killing men.
______________________
CrowdRise has listed a number of ways to help. Donate here or through the widget below.
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.