On Monday, the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, released an ad in
Florida featuring Ricardo Negron-Almodovar, a survivor of June's
attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
Forty-nine people died and dozens were
wounded when a lone gunman attacked the gay nightclub.
Monday is the first day of in-person
early voting in Florida.
In the 30-second ad, titled Ricardo,
Negron-Almodovar talks about what it means for him to cast his
first-ever vote in a presidential election.
“You have to vote. Let your voice be
heard. Every issue that we face has a root at the political level.
We are a force to be reckoned with if we organize,” he
said.
In a longer version of the ad,
Negron-Almodovar says that many of the Pulse victims were “immigrants
coming here looking for a better life, only to lose their lives in
such a tragic way.”
“But what it brings out is how Latino
issues and LGBT issues are issues that affect everybody,” he adds.