--- title: Trump and Rubio Attend Florida Rally That Mocks LGBT Pain description: It is offensive that Marco Rubio has chosen to speak at a divisive rally in Orlando on the two-month anniversary of the Pulse shooting. canonical: https://time.com/4448181/trump-and-rubio-florida-rally/ author: Terry Fleming article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-11T19:50:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:17.146Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Trump and Rubio Attend Florida Rally That Mocks LGBT Pain og:description: The event marks the two-month anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting og:url: https://time.com/4448181/trump-and-rubio-florida-rally/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump and Rubio Attend Florida Rally That Mocks LGBT Pain twitter:description: The event marks the two-month anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Trump and Rubio Attend Florida Rally That Mocks LGBT Pain > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=9ed0fdaa-7ff1-4bab-b68a-e4dc4d8407fb&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: ‘I’m Hurting with You’: Families of Past Shootings Speak to Orlando [Watch (HLS stream): ‘I’m Hurting with You’: Families of Past Shootings Speak to Orlando](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BVEhBG2z.m3u8) (2:20)  _Published 2016-06-14. TIME spoke to families of mass shooting victims - here are their thoughts and prayers for Orlando families_ by [Terry Fleming](https://time.com/author/terry-fleming/) ## Terry Fleming Aug 11, 2016 7:50 PM UTC by [Terry Fleming](https://time.com/author/terry-fleming/) ## Terry Fleming Aug 11, 2016 7:50 PM UTC This Friday marks two months since [49 innocent people](http://time.com/4366349/orlando-shooting-victims-photos/) were slain in a place intended to be a celebration of identity and free expression for Orlando’s LGBT community. In the days and weeks since, the LGBT community in Orlando has been embraced by millions of people in Florida and around the country. That is why it is so offensive that Marco Rubio has chosen to speak at a divisive rally in Orlando on the two-month anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting. Senator Rubio will be sitting with those who have mocked our tragedy and capitalized on our pain. Speakers at this rally have declared AIDS a divine penalty. They compared gay activists to terrorists, and warned that marriage equality “threatened our utter destruction” as a nation. This rally is put on by the Florida branch of the American Renewal Project, an organization sponsored by the American Family Association. AFA is classified as an official “[hate group](https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/american-family-association)” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and these groups are run by people who make a living teaching community leaders how to market hate. They support Rubio, and Rubio supports them. Rubio’s company isn’t surprising considering he has actively advocated against the rights of gay Americans. He has opposed the rights of gay Americans to get married or adopt children. He has embraced support from the leader of a group that promotes dangerous conversion therapy for LGBT youth, and voted against providing basic workplace discrimination protection for employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. While the LGBT community was grieving, Rubio used the tragedy as an opportunity to run for reelection. Rubio would not meet with peaceful protesters in his Orlando office to talk about preventing another tragedy. And of course, it’s obvious why he won’t. Rubio has consistently opposed common sense gun violence prevention measures. He has voted against closing the terrorist gun loophole and against common sense measures to expand background checks. His staff even shielded him from being “[expose\[d\]](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/marco-rubio-gun-violence-mark-kelly%5Fus%5F576d7977e4b0f1683239772b)” to a meeting with prominent gun violence prevention advocate Captain Mark Kelly. Rubio continues to support a Donald Trump presidency, even though Trump recently seemed to suggest that gun owners use their [Second Amendment](http://time.com/4445813/donald-trump-second-amendment-speech/) rights against Hillary Clinton. No surprise, then, that the NRA endorsed Rubio in the aftermath of the Pulse tragedy citing his “excellent” record of opposition to gun violence prevention measures. The kicker? Rubio will be joined by Trump in Orlando, mere miles from the shuttered doors at Pulse. Trump has mastered the art of campaigning on hate, and our Senator appears to be taking note and following suit. Two months ago, Rubio used the hateful attack on the LGBT community to promote himself. Now he is campaigning at an anti-LGBT event in the very city where that attack occurred. He’s campaigning on a platform opposed to supporting the rights of the victims. As the President of Florida’s Democratic LGBTA caucus, I hear how Rubio’s shameless opportunism offends the survivors of Pulse. His attendance at the American Renewal Project’s rally against our community is yet another insult to our experiences and our identities. We don’t need his sympathy. We need a Senator who chooses to represent all Floridians. ## Transcript I just want them to know, there was nothing that they could have done to keep this from happening. Try not to feel guilty about that and then beat themselves up about that. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I will never say I know what you're going through. I will tell them that I have a sense of what that pain feels like. I'm hurting with you. I am so, so sorry, and I will promise you that I will Commit my efforts to do anything and everything in my power to prevent this and stop this from happening again in your honor now. I just want them to know that we're here for them. We're here for them to yell at, to cry with, to hope with, to plan with, if there's anything that we can do We will be there for them. [ MUSIC ] First thing I would tell them to do would which would be probably the hardest thing in the world. In spite of what this young man did, they're gonna have to forgive him. That's the first step to experiencing and peace, any kind of comfort. To forgive him so that they can get him Out of their minds and out of the lives. Some folks will say that if the horrors of the tragedy of Newtown didn't do it what will? And I disagree we need to be top to bottom or bottom to top. We have to not allow our legislators. To do nothing. Keep that anger. The anger that I feel every day, the anger that other people feel every day. Take time to grieve, but then make a choice to act. Dear Lord as right now I'm crying out to you for those who are heavy on my heart. Those people in Orlando. I pray for your grace. I pray for your mercy, your peace, your love. We have a responsibility to our fellow humans to take up this cause in whatever way we can, whatever way works within our lifestyle and do something. Doing nothing should not be an option for anyone ever again. 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