TAMPA, Fla. — In a shimmering metallic dress and platform heels, amid the thump of an electronic dance mix, Brianna Summers scans the club’s dark lounge and runs through her checklist: exits, places to take cover, anyone that looks suspicious, anything out of place.
For a while it was a subconscious practice — owed to the memory of the Pulse shooting nearly seven years ago. But with more than a dozen anti-LGBTQ+ bills sweeping the Florida Legislature, she’s forced to confront a fresh wave of fear.
Now, every time she glues on lashes or adds a touch-up to her red statement lip, she thinks of her mother in a military uniform, fighting on the front line in other countries years ago.
