‘The Manchester bombing was an attack on young women and queer people embracing their freedom’

Being gay still isn’t a walk in the park, despite what we’re often told now that same-sex marriage is legal, and events this week have been another brutal blow for our community.

On Monday night, 22 innocent people were heartlessly murdered when a suicide bomber detonated a device at an Ariana Grande concert as it was coming to an end. It’s not the first terrorist attack our country has faced, and there’s no doubt that it won’t be the last.

While every life loss of life hits hard, this attack felt particularly close to home as a gay man.

Ariana is a major ally of the LGBT+ community, and her outspoken support of equality has been a shining beacon of hope for millions of her young gay fans around the world who aren’t accepted by their friends and family. Her tireless support has been unwavering and vocal, and she’s only gotten louder as her star power has grown.

In a world where Donald Trump is President and gay men are being locked up and murdered in Chechnya, Ariana’s activism is something that we as a community should cherish and be eternally grateful for. The singer’s Dangerous Woman tour features a number of key themes, including hitting back at rape culture, embracing same-sex relationships and promoting self love and respect.

The cowardly man who murdered those innocent people, including Attitude’s own Martyn Hett, was well aware of this and hoped to prey on it.

The idea of a “safe space” is something that still confuses so many heterosexual people. Without growing up living in constant fear, they’re unaware that as LGBT+ people, we have relatively few places where we’re truly able to let our guard completely down. They will never truly understand the feeling every single one of us has had when we have a quick look over our shoulder before holding our partner’s hand.

A gay club was one of those spaces, until the atrocity in Orlando almost a year ago that left so many of our community dead and sent shock-waves around the world, and a pop concert was supposed to be another until the tragic events of Monday night.

We’ve all enjoyed countless hedonistic nights screaming along to our favourite pop stars without a care in the world while surrounded by other like-minded fans who idolise women like Ariana, Lady Gaga and Madonna. These queer icons and their music represent such a huge part of LGBT+ culture and they make us feel empowered and loved.

Young children questioning their sexuality are supposed to be able to go to a concert with their friends and feel safe, welcome and celebrated. It’s a right of passage that we’ve all had the pleasure of experiencing. No one should go to what’s considered one of the few remaining safe spaces for our community only to never come home again.

What happened in Manchester is an unspeakable tragedy, and a direct attack on our lifestyle and what inherently makes the LGBT+ community so vibrant and wonderful. It’s a stark reminder that there are individuals out there that want nothing more than to see us entirely eradicated from the face of the earth.

There will no doubt be cries of “it was an attack on all people,” which is absolutely the case, but after Isis quickly claimed responsibility, the venue chosen speaks volumes. Gay men celebrating their queerness and women embracing their freedom were the real targets.

I’m hopeful that such a brutal attack will inspire other privileged men and women to follow in Ariana’s footsteps and speak out to remind those responsible that we can never, ever be silenced. I am a proud gay man, and I’m so thankful to have someone like Ariana who wants to use her privilege as a straight, white woman to change minds and educate others for the benefit of our community.