Gay Orlando Columnist Talks Nightclub Shooting: Trump Makes Me ‘Afraid Again’

EXCEERPT:
SHAPIRO: “We should say that while Trump has made statements that are positive about LGBT rights, a lot of the people he has appointed, his running mate Mike Pence and cabinet officials, have very strongly anti-gay records. Can you give me an example of how that fear, that not wanting to be to showy, plays out in your own life? I mean, are you, like, putting away the more flowery scarf and putting on something more low-key? What are you actually doing? What does that translate to?”
MANES: “No, I’m doing the opposite of that, actually (laughter). I don’t - I mean, if this is the new Wild West, then my role is not the defeatist or the defeated. I fear for my friends. I fear for my friends who are bartenders in gay bars. And they fear for themselves. And some of them have quit their jobs because of this fear.”
SHAPIRO: “So what do you do then?”
MANES: “Well, what I do is try and love more, (laughter) I guess. That sounds so flaky. But honestly, my response to my friends who are having rough times with this is it’s a generosity. It’s still very real here, Ari. Like, I mean, it’s really bad, especially post-election when people will scream at you at a gas station.
SHAPIRO: “You say that as if it’s a routine thing.”
MANES: “It is.”
SHAPIRO: “It is?”
MANES: “Yeah, it’s happening here. It’s probably happening everywhere, but here is where I am so...”
SHAPIRO: “Was that something that would happen a year ago, five years ago...”
MANES: “Nope.”
SHAPIRO: “...Or is that just recent, really?”
MANES: “Nope, just recently.”
SHAPIRO: “People screaming homophobic epithets.”
MANES: “Right. So on the other side, though, I mean, we have an LGBTQ alliance that has formed that is helping people find housing. We have two hospitals that have paid off the debts of the 53 people who were injured. There is goodness going on here. But I think everyone is a little scared about identity right now.”