Why Raymond Braun Went to Orlando

ORLANDO -- The hugs that Raymond Braun has been giving to LGBT people around the country have even more meaning since he arrived in Orlando, where early Sunday morning a gunman opened fire inside Pulse, a popular LGBT nightclub, killing 49 people and wounding 53 more.

The social media personality traveled to Orlando while working with Logo, for which he currently serves as a spokesman, to meet with the families and friends of victims and offer support to a community still reeling from the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

"What's moved me the most, being in Orlando, is seeing the love and support of our community, the LGBTQ community, and also how it's being embraced by everyone else," Braun tells The Advocate. "Standing in the middle of the LGBT Center here in Orlando, I have never felt prouder to be gay. Because I saw our community at its absolute best. We are everyone. ... We are a community that's very strong and very resilient."

Braun was recently named one of the most influential LGBT people in the world when he was honored on this year's Out 100, and he's already made his mark increasing LGBT visibility in major companies, including Google and YouTube. He was also named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list and did social media reporting for the Human Rights Campaign during the historic vote in favor of marriage equality in Ireland.

But learning about the Pulse massacre hit Braun hard, he says, and responding to this tragedy is unlike anything he's covered before.

"The second that I heard what had happened, I knew that I wanted to be on the ground, hugging my LGBTQ family in Orlando," he says. "Because I really see us as a global community, as a global family."

Braun says he's been upset by the mainstream media's focus on the shooter's identity and background, whereas, Braun suggests, "this is a time where I think as a community, we are grieving so much, and I want to center those LGBTQ stories."

Before hopping a flight to Florida, Braun was at Los Angeles Pride as news broke that authorities had arrested a man whose car had been loaded up with explosives, reportedly intended to be used at the LGBT celebration. Not only does Braun live in West Hollywood, the site of L.A. Pride, but he was planning to go down to celebrate and give out rainbow-bedecked hugs as part of his ongoing Visible Me project.

"It was like I was living this nightmare," says Braun. "Because I could hear the music of L.A. Pride, and the music and the sounds of what's supposed to be this joyous, celebratory occasion, because I live right by Santa Monica Boulevard."

He was fielding frantic texts from friends and family members, begging him not to attend Pride and, he says, essentially cancel his entire month. And though he admits to being scared to walk out into the gayborhood that Saturday morning, he donned his rainbow flag as a cape and soldiered on.

In the wake of such tragedy, Braun says he's generally encountered two types of reactions from LGBT folks he's met in the past week.

"The first is people who say we need to be louder, we need to be prouder, we need to stand taller, we need to show the other side that this is who we are -- we are so strong, and that no one can tarnish us and that we won't let them win," he said. "And I think the other side says, I understand that, but I am still terrified. I fear for my safety, and I fear for my life. ... These LGBT spaces, the nightclubs and the centers, they're the one place where we can go and we can feel like we don't have to worry about hatred, bigotry, and discrimination that so many of our brothers and sisters face in the street. So they're scared, and I understand that."

Watch The Advocate's full interview with Braun in Orlando below.