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Frank Ocean's letter is both heartbreaking and a necessary read.

Has anyone seen Frank Ocean lately?

Fans have been anxiously awaiting new music from the 28-year-old singer/songwriter and rapper, but it’s very clear that Ocean has been using his time to attack some bigger issues.

What are you up to, Frank?

In a heartfelt letter published on Ocean’s personal Tumblr, the artist penned some tear-jerking words about growing up in a homophobic environment.

He also discussed transphobia and his heartbreak about the Orlando massacre:

"I read in the paper that my brothers are being thrown from rooftops blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs for violating sharia law. I heard the crowds stone these fallen men if they move after they hit the ground. I heard it’s in the name of God. I heard my pastor speak for God too, quoting scripture from his book. Words like abomination popped off my skin like hot grease as he went on to describe a lake of fire that God wanted me in. I heard on the news that the aftermath of a hate crime left piles of bodies on a dance floor this month. I heard the gunman feigned dead among all the people he killed. I heard the news say he was one of us. I was six years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a faggot as he dragged me out a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty. That was the last afternoon I saw my father and the first time I heard that word, I think, although it wouldn’t shock me if it wasn’t. Many hate us and wish we didn’t exist. Many are annoyed by our wanting to be married like everyone else or use the correct restroom like everyone else. Many don’t see anything wrong with passing down the same old values that send thousands of kids into suicidal depression each year. So we say pride and we express love for who and what we are. Because who else will in earnest? I daydream on the idea that maybe all this barbarism and all these transgressions against ourselves is an equal and opposite reaction to something better happening in this world, some great swelling wave of openness and wakefulness out here. Reality by comparison looks grey, as in neither black nor white but also bleak. We are all God’s children, I heard. I left my siblings out of it and spoke with my maker directly and I think he sounds a lot like myself. If I being myself were more awesome at being detached from my own story in a way I being myself never could be. I wanna know what others hear, I’m scared to know but I wanna know what everyone hears when they talk to God. Do the insane hear the voice distorted? Do the indoctrinated hear another voice entirely?"

In 2012, Ocean changed the dynamics of the hip-hop community forever by opening up about his own sexuality before releasing his Grammy-nominated album, "Channel Orange."

Ocean's discussion of falling in love with his male best friend — an unrequited love addressed repeatedly throughout the album — was a first in the hip-hop industry, ruffling the feathers of some of his fellow rappers and listeners.

Artists like T-Pain insisted that Ocean wouldn't find fellow musicians willing to collaborate with him, and some of Ocean's fans declared they were done with his music.

Frank Ocean performing during the 2014 Bonnaroo Music Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images.

But Ocean has, in fact, collaborated with many top artists since then. He has several awards under his belt too, including two Grammys.

Rappers like Jay-Z have supported Ocean too, and while hip-hop is notoriously known to push out anti-gay lyrics, many listeners are asking for increased inclusivity in the genre thanks to Ocean's honesty.

Frank Ocean performs at the 2012 Oya music festival in Oslo. Photo credit by Vegard Grøtt/AFP/Getty Images.

With transphobic bathroom bills floating around several states, the recent massacre in Orlando, and staunch opposition to LGBTQ rights around the world, Ocean's words matter.

His honesty and transparent pain are needed in the hip-hop industry now more than ever.

Hip-hop artists like Ocean should continue to express themselves in a way that is inclusive of marginalized groups.

Most recently, rapper Kid Cudi not only slammed homophobia in U.S., but he also vowed to implement change in the hip-hop community, showing us all how to put action behind our words.

While many of us are still waiting anxiously for Ocean to bring more awesome music to the charts, it's been incredible to watch him truly express himself in written words too.

Thanks, Frank.

"We're not afraid."

True

Many of us hugged our loved ones a little bit tighter on June 12, 2016. That was especially true for LGBTQ people.

After a gunman opened fire in a queer Orlando nightclub, we were reminded yet again that being part of the LGBTQ community still means living on the receiving end of discriminatory violence. That — even as we celebrate the one-year anniversary of national marriage equality — being LGBTQ can still mean being treated as less than.

The bigotry that spilled over on June 12 also reminded us of one very powerful thing: that love is love is love is love. If any one thing can triumph over the hate that exists in one man's heart, it's the resiliency that exists in our own.

Just ask Marko Jovanov and Mario Rodriguez, who tied the knot in NYC soon after 49 victims — many of them queer people of color — lost their lives in Orlando.

"It was important to still go through with our wedding, despite what happened," Jovanov explained to Upworthy.

Now, Jovanov and Rodriquez's marriage means something so much more.

"It is a sort of tribute to make sure that we are still visible, we are going on the way that we want to be," Jovanov said. "We're not afraid."

Watch Jovanov and Rodriguez and another same-sex couple explain in their own words why they decided to get married in the wake of tragedy:

17 hours of work paid off for the Connecticut senator.

At 11:21 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, Sen. Chris Murphy took the floor of the Senate, vowing not to leave until his colleagues agreed to take action on gun control.

For nearly 15 hours, Murphy — with the help of more than 30 other senators — delivered a series of speeches in hopes of getting the Senate to take action on two amendments. The first amendment would require background checks for guns purchased online or at gun shows and the second would be on whether or not to prevent people on the "no fly" terror watch list from buying guns.

It was a long shot, but after the massacre in Orlando, Murphy wasn't about to sit idly by.

Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images.

The filibuster's most powerful moment came at its closing when Murphy shared the story of Dylan Hockley, a 6-year-old who was killed during the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.

Dylan was one of 20 students who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. Dylan's teacher Anne Marie Murphy (no relation to the senator) died trying to shield the child from gunfire.

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

Sen. Murphy challenged his colleagues to follow in the footsteps of Dylan's brave teacher.

"Anne Marie Murphy made the most courageous decision that anyone could imagine," said Senator Murphy. "Instead of running, instead of hiding, instead of panicking, Anne Marie Murphy found Dylan Hockley and embraced him. Know why we know that? When the police entered the classroom, that’s how they found Dylan Hockley. Dead. Wrapped in the embrace of Anne Marie Murphy."

"It doesn’t take courage to stand here on the floor of the United States Senate for two hours or six hours or 14 hours. It doesn’t take courage to stand up to the gun lobby when 90% of your constituents want change to happen. It takes courage to look into the eye of a shooter and instead of running, wrapping your arms around a 6-year-old boy and accepting death as a trade for just a tiny little bitty piece of increased peace of mind for a little boy under your charge."

GIF via C-SPAN.

By night's end, Murphy got what he wanted: assurance that the Senate would hold votes on the amendments.

It's doubtful either will pass, but getting these amendments to the floor for an up or down vote is a strong start. The NRA stands in opposition to both amendments. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, however, supports banning members of the terrorist watch list and says he plans to speak with the gun advocacy group.

— (@)

We need to fight against the impulse to by cynical. We need to believe that change can happen.

It's a huge and welcome relief to see Murphy and his colleagues in the Senate working to make that change happen.

Orlando, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Fort Hood, San Bernardino, Aurora — the list of preventable gun tragedies goes on. It's easy to feel cynical, to lose hope for change. After all, the country didn't take any meaningful action on gun control after 20 children were gunned down in Newtown.

But on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, Chris Murphy showed that while sweeping change might still be a ways off, change is possible.

Last weekend, there was a shooting in a gay night club. I've felt this feeling before.

True

I remember this feeling.

I am 18, and I am at a stoplight. A pickup truck pulls up next to me in the turn lane. I glance; inside the truck are three or four guys, my high school classmates. It’s June. Their windows are down, they are listening to classic rock, and they are wearing undershirts in the heat. I know they’ve seen me, so I timidly wave hello.

Photo via iStock.

Did they wave back or did they laugh and call me a faggot? It doesn’t matter. The light turns green, and I go. The truck swerves out of the turn lane to go straight, and follows me closely. Here’s where I feel it.

My heart beats faster and faster and my knuckles are white on the steering wheel. If I drive home, they will know where I live, and if I drive to a friend’s house and that friend isn’t home, I’ll be alone with them — either way, I risk not even making it to the door. But if I keep driving, they could run me off the road. I have to stop, but I can’t find a safe place.

Finally, shaking, I decide on a gas station. And as I approach the parking lot, I glance in my rearview mirror: The truck turns away and disappears, as if none of this ever happened.

I grew up in Missouri, close to St. Louis, but far enough away that I could play Marco Polo in a wheat field.

When I came out of the closet, I knew of no other gay kids in my high school’s student body of 1,000. I was a senior then, and it was terrifying. Because when I was a freshman, I saw the story of Matthew Shepard’s torture and murder on the TV news. It happened to a kid like me in a town like mine, and I never forgot: It could happen to me too.

When I saw news of the massacre in Orlando, I could see that truck swerving in my rearview mirror again.

I imagine many queer people felt the same way.

The window of a gay bar in Brussels. Photo by Siska Gremmelprez for AFP/Getty Images.

For us, this is different from other all-too-frequent mass shootings, and it is not the same as other terror attacks. This attack was meant to remind queer people, specifically, that despite all of the progress of the last two decades, we can still be made to feel that we exist only at the mercy of others. It was designed to humiliate as much as it was to exterminate — to trick us into believing our breath is a luxury rather than a right.

Queer folks know better than to buy into this. Our diversity can be dizzying — we are intersections of trans, bi, lesbian, gay, gender-non-conforming, black, Latinx, white, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and so many other identities. But one thread ties all of us together: We know the importance of asserting our humanity. And despite all the risks, we’ll keep doing it.

Our elected officials might be tempted, as any of us might be, to treat this shooting as a gun rights issue alone or as an issue of terrorism or national security.

It is certainly those things: Calls for reforming gun policy, and calls for love instead of terror are valid. But this attack did not occur randomly; it was not aimed at the general public. It was aimed at queer people. And addressing it as though the identities of the victims are of tertiary importance — identities for which real people bled to death — is more than dishonest. It’s a new kind of erasure, a quieter kind of violence.

Flowers at a memorial in Seoul, South Korea. Photo by Chung Sung-Jun for Getty Images.

There are politicians who fight their hardest to steal the dignity of trans people, who fought against my right to marry, and who ignore the epidemic of homelessness among queer youth of color. Watch now as they pirouette gracefully: They will say an attack on gay Americans is an attack on all Americans. They will say this should strengthen our resolve to arm every schoolteacher. They will use it to justify pouring money and lives into the war on ISIS. It is our civic duty to hold them accountable for this hypocrisy.

If I sound angry, it’s because I am.

For my entire life, I have heard from public servants, faith leaders, and even some friends and family members that my existence is an inconvenience — or an abhorrence. Imagine it.

Now imagine real violence done to people who dare exist like me. And imagine it going unspoken or being used for political gain. Imagine what it would feel like to have someone who hates you suddenly force you to take their hand in fellowship.

A year ago this month, the U.S. Supreme Court guaranteed gay people the right to marry all across the country.

I celebrated with my fiancé. I saw rainbows everywhere, online and off. I was buoyed by the outpouring of love, pride, and positivity that followed.

I thought that — just maybe — that shaky 18-year-old, knuckles white on the steering wheel, had finally found the safety he deserved. Imagine being wrong about that.

You’d be angry too.

In response to the tragedy in Orlando, people came together in grieving and solidarity.

Hate is a hard feeling to get past. Tragedies like the shooting in Orlando remind us that hate — true, poisonous hate — not only exists, but can exist so potently as to snuff out human life.

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

In the wake of such tragedies, however, we also see images that help restore humanity to a world constantly under attack.

We see images of solidarity, tears, and held hands. We see candles and flowers laid on the ground by strangers. We see images of people from all walks of life, across oceans and international borders, coming together to show that hate is vastly outnumbered by the acts of love and compassion that fight it.

Photo by Dario Pignatelli/Getty Images.

In the coming days, you’ll find endless discussion about where we go from here. How do we prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future? How does this affect policy? What president should we elect? How do we win the fight against hate?

Here are some of the most iconic responses to the Orlando shooting from around the world.

In New York, members of the LGBT community and their supporters gathered outside the Stonewall Inn, site of the 1969 riots that helped launch the modern gay rights movement.

Photo by Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images.

Many cities, like San Diego, flew the gay pride flag at half-mast above and outside landmarks.

Photo by Sandy Huffaker/AFP/Getty Images.

New York City's One World Trade Center was among the buildings lit up in rainbow colors as a tribute to the Orlando victims.

Photo by Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images.

But perhaps the most powerful statements were ones made by ordinary people, brought together by a flood of emotion.

In cities around the world, people gathered in solidarity with the victims of the shooting and with the larger LGBT community itself.

Dallas:

Photo by Laura Buckman/AFP/Getty Images.

Chicago:

Photo by Nova Safo/AFP/Getty Images.

Washington, D.C.:

Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images.

Mumbai, India:

Photo by Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images.

Sydney, Australia:

Photo by William West/AFP/Getty Images.

Berlin:

Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images.

Seoul, South Korea:

Photo by Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images.

Hong Kong:

Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images.

Bangkok:

Photo by Dario Pignatelli/Getty Images.

Wellington, New Zealand:

Photo by Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images.

Love is stronger than hate. Telling ourselves that is important, but it means little if we don't believe it and act on it too.

It's easy to feel as though the world is beyond saving or to give in to cynicism. But there's a lesson to be learned here, a lesson that exists in the images of flickering candles, flags, and lit-up monuments from all over the world.

Love has already won. We’ve already won.

Family

11 small ways to feel less helpless this week, from a trained therapist.

If you feel helpless following the Orlando shooting, you're not alone.

On the morning of June 12, 2016, I’d imagine that you, like me, woke up to the story of the Orlando, Florida, mass shooting in the Pulse nightclub.

Like mine, your social media newsfeed was probably flooded with stories about the tragedy.

Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images.

And perhaps you, like me, felt your stomach sink and your heart grow heavy. Another mass shooting. The worst in recent U.S. history. And one where the clear intent seems to be terror and hate.

When I first heard the news, I felt a sense of defeat come over me and a sort of numbness settled in.

Intellectually, I got it: “Another mass shooting, a hate crime, ties to ISIS. This is absolutely terrible but not too surprising,” my brain said. But I wasn’t feeling the emotional pain of it just yet.

Then I watched the faces on the news and the photos of people lined up to donate blood, and I imagined what those victims must have planned as a fun, carefree night. I was struck by the horror of what it means when the places we gather for fun and entertainment are no longer safe. I was gripped by the sheer senseless tragedy of life when people are targeted for their sexual orientation.

If you, like me, feel more than just a little bit helpless, angry, and numb than usual, I want you to know you’re not alone.

As a fellow human affected by the events in Orlando, I join you in all these feelings. There’s helplessness, anger, shock, sadness, numbness, and desensitization. And as a professional psychotherapist, I can also tell you that these feelings are a completely normal and natural reaction to the stress of observing and processing traumatic global events.

In this post-9/11 world, we’re witnessing more and more local, national, and global tragedies every day.

Each of them is like a little trauma, a wound on our individual and collective psyches, aggravated each time a new and heartbreaking tragedy unfolds and enters our lives through immediate or distanced observation. This mass shooting in Orlando, compounded with all the other tragedies our generation has witnessed, feels like so much to hold.

Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images.

With all these feelings and emotions comes an even bigger question though: What can we DO about it, so as not to feel helpless, alone, and stuck?

To help you hold the weight of this world, I want to offer some actionable suggestions for things you can do this week, both psychologically and socially. Hopefully, these small things will help you process, feel less helpless, and even help those around you this week:

1. Acknowledge and feel your feelings. All of them.

There’s no such thing as a bad feeling (though some may feel more comfortable than others). Allow yourself to feel today, tomorrow, and this week, and to be with whatever comes up for you around this. Process your feelings safely and constructively.

2. Don’t isolate. Connect.

Connect with your loved ones, your local community, your larger communities (even if by phone or over social media). Share how you’re feeling. Talk it out, let others hold space for you while you hold space for them.

3. Limit your media consumption if needed.

This is so important with news being blasted at us from every angle. Monitor how much news and content about the tragedy you can tolerate before it starts to feel like too much.

4. Refocus on your self-care and healthy coping resources.

Garden, cook, knit, craft, go for a long walk, journal, sit outside in the sun. Do whatever you know helps you feel grounded, safe, and healthy.

5. Stick to your routines.

Routines and schedules can be incredibly grounding in times of stress. Keep up your daily and weekly rituals.

6. Exercise.

Moving your body can help process and metabolize the stress and anxiety you may be feeling. Add in an extra walk or two and really make grounding and focusing on your body a priority.

7. Dance, draw, paint, or photograph your feelings about this.

Create art and process your experience through creation.

8. Turn toward supports and ask for help.

If you need additional resources, book a session with a therapist, speak to your local clergy, or call up a trusted mentor. Let those who care about you help you.

9. Get involved in any way that you can.

Donate blood, send money, participate in activism around gun-control laws, help staff a help line, bring food and water to those in line to donate blood.

10. Host or join a community process group.

Check out your local YMCA or church or university offerings to see if they’re hosting a support group for those impacted by the tragedy. If none are offered, consider hosting one with a friend or local helping resource.

11. Pray.

Yes, pray. Whether you believe in God, Allah, Gaia, or Universal Spirit, close your eyes and ask something greater than you for guidance in troubled times. Receive the support that can come from being in prayer.

Being a human is often scary, overwhelming, and vulnerable.

Tragedies like the Orlando shooting illuminate the fragility and unpredictability of life. I think that, for most of us, this can be a very hard thing to face.

Part of the pain and terror of the recent shooting in Orlando, specifically, is that we were reminded, yet again, that the places where we convene to celebrate and to play are not necessarily safe.

The shooting in Orlando also reminds us that murderous hate is alive and active, especially toward certain communities. And lacking national gun regulation laws makes it easier for people to act out on their anger.

But these same tragedies can call upon us to open ourselves up too.

They call on us to be more vulnerable, to be more fully alive and in touch with our feelings, to be more compassionate and caring toward others, and to be more active and peaceful in our politics and social engagements.

Photo by Daniel Munoz/Getty Images.

These same tragedies can remind us of the preciousness of life, if we allow them to.

Please, take good care of yourself this week. Seek out the support and resources you may need to deal with how the events in Orlando affected you.

'No act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us Americans.'

In the early hours of June 12, 2016, a gunman opened fire at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images.

Pulse is an LGBTQ nightclub. That the attack happened there was no coincidence. It appears the gunman — who pledged allegiance to the Islamic state the night he killed at least 50 people — reportedly held deeply homophobic attitudes.

Sunday afternoon, President Obama addressed the nation, highlighting what made this most recent act of terror unique.

While the president confirmed the FBI is investigating the incident and thanked the courageous first responders who saved many lives, he also made a point to note why the location of this attack should not be overlooked.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

"This is an especially heartbreaking day for all our friends — our fellow Americans — who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender," he said in his speech. "The shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and to sing, and to live."

"The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub — it is a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights."

The president is right. Dating back to the Stonewall Riots of the 1960s, LGBTQ nightclubs and bars have been much more than just spaces to have fun on a Friday night. These venues are where people have organized, protested, pushed for progress, and found safe spaces amid a hostile outside world.

This wasn't just an attack on Americans writ large — it was an attack on the freedoms that LGBTQ people have rallied for for decades.

"No act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us Americans," Obama said.

The president also used his speech to highlight the continued need to act against gun violence.

Sunday morning's tragedy — the deadliest shooting in American history — is yet another example of why rampant gun violence in the U.S. is a uniquely American phenomenon.

"This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub," Obama said.

"And we have to decide if that’s the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing is a decision as well."

Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images.

June is pride month across the country. As we celebrate progress made while honoring those who lost their lives in Orlando, let's also remember what inspires us to keep fighting: hope.

As LGBTQ rights activist Harvey Milk once said, "The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have to give them hope."

"Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great. Hope that all will be all right."

Photo by Max Whittaker/Getty Images.

orlando shooting

Frank Ocean's letter is both heartbreaking and a necessary read.

Has anyone seen Frank Ocean lately?

In a heartfelt letter published on Ocean’s personal Tumblr, the artist penned some tear-jerking words about growing up in a homophobic environment.

His honesty and transparent pain are needed in the hip-hop industry now more than ever.

"We're not afraid."

Many of us hugged our loved ones a little bit tighter on June 12, 2016. That was especially true for LGBTQ people.

Watch Jovanov and Rodriguez and another same-sex couple explain in their own words why they decided to get married in the wake of tragedy:

17 hours of work paid off for the Connecticut senator.

At 11:21 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, Sen. Chris Murphy took the floor of the Senate, vowing not to leave until his colleagues agreed to take action on gun control.

The filibuster's most powerful moment came at its closing when Murphy shared the story of Dylan Hockley, a 6-year-old who was killed during the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.

Sen. Murphy challenged his colleagues to follow in the footsteps of Dylan's brave teacher.

By night's end, Murphy got what he wanted: assurance that the Senate would hold votes on the amendments.

It's a huge and welcome relief to see Murphy and his colleagues in the Senate working to make that change happen.

Last weekend, there was a shooting in a gay night club. I've felt this feeling before.

I remember this feeling.

I grew up in Missouri, close to St. Louis, but far enough away that I could play Marco Polo in a wheat field.

When I saw news of the massacre in Orlando, I could see that truck swerving in my rearview mirror again.

Our elected officials might be tempted, as any of us might be, to treat this shooting as a gun rights issue alone or as an issue of terrorism or national security.

If I sound angry, it’s because I am.

A year ago this month, the U.S. Supreme Court guaranteed gay people the right to marry all across the country.

In response to the tragedy in Orlando, people came together in grieving and solidarity.

Hate is a hard feeling to get past. Tragedies like the shooting in Orlando remind us that hate — true, poisonous hate — not only exists, but can exist so potently as to snuff out human life.

In the wake of such tragedies, however, we also see images that help restore humanity to a world constantly under attack.

Here are some of the most iconic responses to the Orlando shooting from around the world.

But perhaps the most powerful statements were ones made by ordinary people, brought together by a flood of emotion.

Love is stronger than hate. Telling ourselves that is important, but it means little if we don't believe it and act on it too.

If you feel helpless following the Orlando shooting, you're not alone.

On the morning of June 12, 2016, I’d imagine that you, like me, woke up to the story of the Orlando, Florida, mass shooting in the Pulse nightclub.

When I first heard the news, I felt a sense of defeat come over me and a sort of numbness settled in.

In this post-9/11 world, we’re witnessing more and more local, national, and global tragedies every day.

With all these feelings and emotions comes an even bigger question though: What can we DO about it, so as not to feel helpless, alone, and stuck?

1. Acknowledge and feel your feelings. All of them.

2. Don’t isolate. Connect.

3. Limit your media consumption if needed.

4. Refocus on your self-care and healthy coping resources.

5. Stick to your routines.

6. Exercise.

7. Dance, draw, paint, or photograph your feelings about this.

8. Turn toward supports and ask for help.

9. Get involved in any way that you can.

10. Host or join a community process group.

11. Pray.

Being a human is often scary, overwhelming, and vulnerable.

But these same tragedies can call upon us to open ourselves up too.

'No act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us Americans.'

In the early hours of June 12, 2016, a gunman opened fire at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Sunday afternoon, President Obama addressed the nation, highlighting what made this most recent act of terror unique.

"The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub — it is a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights."

The president also used his speech to highlight the continued need to act against gun violence.

June is pride month across the country. As we celebrate progress made while honoring those who lost their lives in Orlando, let's also remember what inspires us to keep fighting: hope.

Watch Obama's speech addressing the Orlando mass shooting: