[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, aurora sexton. [applause] >> thank you. good afternoon. my name is aurora sexton. i'm a writer, a performer, a newfound activist. i am an american. and like you i knew because there is something profoundly wrong happening in our society. and i can no longer bury my head in the sand hoping someone else will find a solution. i grew up in the picturesque state of colorado not very far from the columbine massacre. i entered my teens in the wake of the denver university campus shootings. i begin find out who i was as a person, as i bared witness to the murder of matthew shepard. growing up in the lgbtq community i saw with my own eyes the pain and violence inflicted on my friends by religious conservatives and the politicians they help elect to o office. by families who force their children into conversion therapy torture or voted out on the street to fend for themselves. my community is a bright and vibrant tapestry made up of people of every page, color, creed, gender, orientation and walk of life seeking nothing more than a place of refuge,

my name is aurora sexton. i am a writer, performer, a newfound activist. i am a american. like you, i am here because there is something profoundly wrong happening in our society. i can no longer bury my head in the sand, hoping someone else will find a solution. i grew up in the picturesque state of colorado. not very far from the columbine massacre. inntered my teenage years the wake of the denver university campus shootings. i began finding out who i was as a person, as i dared witness to the murder of matthew shepard. growing up in the lgbtq community, isolate my own eyes the pain and violence and foot -- i saw with my own eyes the pain and violence that my friends experienced. push theirs that children into conversion therapy or push them out onto the street. my community is a bright, vibrant tapestry made up of people of every age, color, creed, gender, orientation, and walk of life. seeking nothing more than a place of refuge, love, acceptance, and a family. that is what made the shooting at pulse nightclub so horrific. 49was not just a beautiful brothers and sister