Today’s Agenda Is Brought To You By…

Jim Burroway

June 26th, 2016

We Are Orlando

RodolfoAyala-Ayala

Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old.

Ck6h-toVAAAFUeS.jpg-largeAs soon as people in Orlando understood the magnitude of what happened that night, thousands rushed to donate blood for the victims. OneBlood, the state’s largest blood bank, put out a call for all of its employees to come in to work. One employee however didn’t answer that call.

A native of San Germán, Puerto Rico, Rody had been working at OneBlood since 2011 as a biologics assistant, and had recently been promoted to supervisor of a platelet products team. In the past year, he had bought a car and a house in Kissimmee. Adam Colon, a member of Ayala-Ayala’s team, said he was “a prankster” and “a kind, warm-hearted soul.” “Rody would not hurt a fly, he continued. “He was gentle and sweet and charismatic. He had an infectious smile. If you were having a bad day, he would come in the room with his smile and he would brighten up the whole room.”

rodolfo-ayala-435He also had a unique sense of style: “He could rock a bowtie,” said Colin. “He was famous for the bowtie. He wore very vibrant colors. Suspenders. A full hawk one day and the following day, blond hair. You could spot him a mile away. His personality went hand in hand with that outfit. He was very proud of being a gay man in the community. No one could tell him different. He wasn’t ashamed of it. He was out there and that is who he was and if you didn’t like it – tough cookie. He wasn’t going to let nobody bring him down.”

Rody was a big Ricky Martin Fan and loved to dance, especially the cha-cha and merengue. Friends say he didn’t go out very often, but when he did it was to dance. said one friend, “He didn’t even drink because he had a long drive home and always wanted to be safe.”

Rob

June 26th, 2016

Last night, Forte, the Toronto Gay Men’s Chorus premiered our arrangement of Melissa Etheridge’s Pulse, as we dedicated our season finale to the victims or Orlando.

You can watch the video here:

https://youtu.be/8V8VFpOT1As

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