'Are They Going to Walk in My Place with a Bomb?'; Club Owner, Entertainer on Orlando Tragedy

WORCESTER, MA—At least 50 people were killed Sunday and 53 more hospitalized after a gunman opened fire in an Orlando nightclub in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

Law enforcement described the attack as an "act of terror" carried out by an American citizen with family ties to Afghanistan.

The shooting took place at Pulse Orlando Night Club & Ultra Lounge, a popular gay bar, where about 350 people were dancing and drinking. A state of emergency for Orange County has been declared by the City of Orlando and Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

While Orlando is reeling from the tragedy, owners of LGBT establishments across the country are reacting, concerned for the community, and concerned for the people who go to their clubs.

Marco Guinette just celebrated this week the tenth anniversary of owning the MB Lounge, currently Worcester's only gay bar.

"I’m appalled, and they are saying it’s a terrorist attack, which is unfortunately a sad thing this country is dealing with all over the place," said Guinette. "Now, being the owner of the MB, it frightens me to know that now I really have to watch closely. You just don’t know what will come up. It’s just horrific these people died."

Guinette said his biggest concern is whether the motive was for the shooter to single out a gay bar.

"But who knows," he said. "They do this in churches and anywhere, and when you see news like this go on, others pick up on it and it spreads like wildfire and people want to join the club. They got them in Orlando, so now will they go to Boston, or are they going to walk in my place with a bomb and kill everybody in my bar? You just can’t be safe today. It’s just not safe in this country."

Before the end of Sunday, Guinette said he is likely to hear that he knew someone who was killed, or injured, or witnessed the shooting.

"I have a lot of friends in Orlando," said Guinette. "I just find this appalling. I've got to say this....you've got to blame it on what's on TV, and what shows they allow and people are becoming desensitized. It’s like, 'Somebody died, big deal.' When i was young, that was a big deal. When someone dies now, it’s like, 'Oh, someone spilled the garbage.' This younger generation is becoming numb to what is going on, and it’s going to get worse. It can’t get better. Even the regular news, all they report on is crime. Why aren’t we talking about what is going on in Iraq or India with the flood?

"And now the gay thing... I’m sure a lot of gay owners are wondering what to do. I don’t want to have to put a metal detector on my door. I am adamant about watching people, anyway. But now will I have to sit there every night? At what point do you have to frisk people? I’ve been watching it all morning. The gay world is small, but I know people around the world. For some reason, it just touches you."

Popular personality and entertainer Dale LePage, also the founder of New England Pride TV, told Patch, "My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and families of this horrific senseless shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Our LGBTQ brothers and sisters witnessed a nightmare. Anti-LGBTQ violence is alive in this country. Until we live in a country where hate crimes, and hate filled bullies are not glorified in the media main stream this will not change. The question remains how do disturbed individuals still have such easy access to guns? Tragedies will continue unless we wake up. We as a nation also need to wake up the political forces that ignore hate against LGBTQ and others. Once again, we hope something will be done by our lawmakers to stop this insanity."