In 2016 tragedy hit The Pulse nightclub in Florida
On June 12, 2016, tragedy struck the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, when a lone gunman carried out an attack on the venue.
By the end of the siege, 49 people had been killed and 53 others wounded.
At the time, the mass shooting was the deadliest in United States history, until the 2017 shooting in Las Vegas, in which 60 people were killed and more than 400 injured.
On the night of June 12, the gay nightclub was hosting a Latin-themed event when a 29-year-old gunman entered the venue and began shooting. The situation developed into a standoff between police and the offender, who held people hostage inside the nightclub.
After several hours, police entered the building and the gunman was killed in an exchange of fire.
Many of the victims were members of Florida’s Latino community, and most were in their early 20s. Following the attack, there was widespread speculation about why the gunman had targeted the venue, but months of investigation were unable to provide a definitive answer.
Actor and singer Jim Nabors was born on this day in 1930
Jim Nabors first came to prominence on The Andy Griffith Show, a popular television series in the 1960s. Originally, he was hired to play the bumbling gas station attendant Gomer Pyle for just one episode, but the character proved so popular that he began appearing regularly on the show.
The following year, the character was given his own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., which saw Gomer join the United States Marine Corps. The show was incredibly popular and ran for five years. A family favourite, it continues to be broadcast around the world more than fifty years after its debut.
Nabors went on to host a television variety programme and released many records featuring his deep baritone voice. A regular on the cabaret circuit, he entertained audiences for decades.
For almost every year from 1972 to 2014, Nabors appeared at the beginning of the Indianapolis 500, singing Back Home Again in Indiana. In 2014, he announced it would be his last appearance at the event, as health concerns prevented him from travelling.
In the early 1980s, he had a supporting role in the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, starring alongside Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds.
In 2013, not long after same-sex marriage was legalised in Washington state, Nabors married Stan Cadwallader, his partner of 38 years.
Nabors passed away at his home in Honolulu in 2017, aged 87.
In 1970 The kinks released ‘Lola’
Lola, which proved to be one of the biggest hits for the British band The Kinks, was released on this day in 1970. The song describes an encounter between a man and the titular Lola, who may be a transgender woman or someone who dresses in traditionally feminine clothing.
When the song was first released, radio DJs would often fade it out before it reached the conclusion, where it is implied that Lola was assigned male at birth. In Australia, radio stations were given an edited version of the song, which sounded as though the record had skipped a groove due to a clumsy edit.
The inspiration for the song has been attributed to several sources over the years, including the band spending time in gay clubs in London’s Soho district, interactions between different band members and people who presented as transgender, and a meeting with actor Candy Darling, known for her roles in Andy Warhol’s films.
Today, the lyrics of Lola may appear somewhat insensitive, but more than 50 years ago they were many people’s first exposure to the idea that individuals might present as a gender different from the sex they were assigned at birth. At the time of the record’s release, singer and songwriter Ray Davies also made positive comments about the character, stating, “It really doesn’t matter what sex Lola is, I think she’s alright.”
OIP Staff, This post was first published in 2021 and has been updated.
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