A day before he's expected to speak at
the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland, demonstrators
protested Florida Senator Marco Rubio's policies at a press
conference he was holding in Orlando.
After dropping out of the GOP
nomination contest for president, Rubio entered the race to keep his
job in the Senate representing the people of Florida.
Last week, 10 people were arrested
staging a 49-hour sit-in at Rubio's office in Orlando. Demonstrators
wanted the incumbent senator to take action after forty-nine people
died and dozens were injured in a mass shooting at an Orlando gay
nightclub, the Pulse.
Among those arrested was David Thomas
Moran, who interrupted Rubio on Tuesday while other protesters
demonstrated outside.
“I don't feel like you're doing
anything to support the queer Latinx community that has been so
devastated by this, the LGBTQ+ community,” Moran
said. “I need to know what is your relationship with the
[National Rifle Association]. Why are you talking to transphobes and
homophobes? … All of you have blood on your hands.”
“I disagree with your assessment,”
Rubio responded. “Homophobia means you're scared of people. I'm
not scared of people. Quite frankly I respect all people. We
probably have a disagreement on the definition of marriage.”
During his presidential campaign, Rubio
formed an advisory board to study repeal of last year's Supreme Court
ruling that led to nationwide marriage equality. He announced the
board's formation on Valentine's Day. Roughly a month before the
high court handed down its ruling, Rubio
said that such unions threaten Christianity.
“Your policies kill people,” Moran
told Rubio. “Your policies enable people to be murdered. You have
to protect us. You're not protecting us. We're going to be killed.
We're going to be gunned down like what just happened at this club
over here. You have blood on your hands. You can't deny it.”
Moran told LGBT
weekly Watermark that he took part in the sit-in because
he lost two friends in the attack on the Pulse.