Sudbury LGBT activist reflects on Orlando shooting

OLink said they were on "quite a high" after the Timmins festival but when she went to pay for her meal, she stood transfixed at the news coming out of Orlando, Florida.

It was thenshesaid, "the bottom fell out of my world."

• Listen to Rita OLinkdiscuss the Orlando shootingon Morning North

An active member of Sudbury's LGBT community, OLinksaid she felt a "curious mixture of shock, emptiness, and loss of hope" at the tragedy.

The price of a kiss

"On the trip home, we talked a lot, and we tried to...what can we do?" OLinksaid, "we had survivor's' guilt, in a sense."

"And the terrible thing this attack is the price of a kiss," she said, "two men dared to show affection like any other couple would."

"Not only they, but so many others died over a kiss. That shouldn't be."

On the drive back to Sudbury, OLinkreflected on how well her own community has treated one another.

"Yes, there are parts that aren't that good, things happen here," she said, "but compared with what our neighbours go through, this is heaven."

Despite its reputation as a hardscrabble northern town, OLinksaid that visitors from southern Ontario have remarked on how open and accepting Sudbury is.

When friends from Toronto ask where a 'safe' restaurant or a 'safe' hotel is, OLinkcan proudly reply 'anywhere I choose.'

Although there is still resistance in Sudbury, OLinksaidthere is far more acceptance.