Research Spotlight: Understanding Distress & Collective Coping After the Pulse Nightclub Shooting
This work sits at the intersection of my identities, my academic commitments, and my hope for how we care for one another.
As a scholar exploring collective trauma and identity-based violence, I’ve spent years listening to stories that deserve far more space in our public conversations. This study—focused on GBQ+ Latinx men in the aftermath of the Pulse Nightclub shooting—represents one of the most meaningful collaborations of my academic journey.
We often talk about cultural trauma in broad terms, but for many communities, its impact is deeply personal, lived, and ongoing. My recent publication in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy examines how gay, bisexual, and queer (GBQ+) Latinx men experienced distress and created pathways for coping after the Pulse shooting.
What the Study Explores
The Pulse shooting was the deadliest act of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in U.S. history. For many GBQ+ Latinx people, it was not only a national tragedy—it was a direct attack on a space and a community that felt like home. Even those who were not physically present felt its impact deeply, because the harm touched their identities, their communities, and their sense of safety.
Our research sought to understand:
How GBQ+ Latinx men emotionally experienced the aftermath
The coping strategies they relied on
How cultural trauma shapes the lives of those who share identities with the victims
The role of community, culture, and identity in their healing
How We Conducted the Research
Through in-depth qualitative interviews with participants across the country, we identified themes related to:
Grief, fear, and collective distress
Safety concerns and the vulnerability of holding multiple marginalized identities
Turning toward community, culture, and chosen family as essential healing practices
The heavy emotional weight carried by those who belong to the targeted community, even from afar
These conversations revealed not just what people felt, but how they made sense of harm that echoed across cultural lines and community boundaries.
Key Findings
Participants consistently described the Pulse shooting as a moment that made clear:
“We had to care about ourselves, because the world wasn’t going to care for us.”
From these interviews, several themes emerged:
Collective coping as resilience: LGBTQ+ Latinx people often turned toward one another for safety, affirmation, and meaning.
Trauma beyond proximity: Cultural trauma impacts individuals who see their identity reflected in the victims, regardless of physical presence.
The need for culturally responsive care: Healing required spaces where culture, language, identity, and community were not afterthoughts—but central to support.
These findings offer insight into how trauma, identity, and culture intersect—and how communities of color navigate resilience in the face of violence.
Why This Matters for TPE
At The Phoenix Empowered, our mission centers on identity-informed mental health education. Research like this helps illuminate experiences that are often erased or flattened within mainstream mental-health narratives.
This study reminds us that:
Healing is collective
Representation matters
Cultural context must shape care
Trauma impacts communities on multiple levels
Most importantly, it reinforces the need for mental-health spaces that honor the full humanity, cultural identities, and lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people of color.
Source
Rosario, J. R., et al. (2025). “We had to care about ourselves”: Distress and coping among gay, bisexual, and queer (GBQ+) Latinx men after the Pulse Nightclub shooting. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001799
