‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Alum Survives Orlando Shooting, Gets Pulse Tattoo to Honor Victims

Roxxxy Andrews, alumnus of RuPaul’s Drag Race reality show, was at Pulse the night Omar Mateen opened fire on club-goers and killed 49 people, and the drag queen has since gotten a tribute tattoo to honor the victims of the shooting, many of whom were his friends. The mass shooting took place in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12, at Pulse, a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where hundreds of revelers were gathered to celebrate Latin Night, and the ages of the victims slain in the shooting ranged from 18 to 49.

Pulse was Roxxxy Andrews’ home club, where he performed for ten years, and he and another RuPaul’s Drag Race alum, Kenya Michaels, were lucky enough to survive the shooting, which, in addition to killing 49 people, injured 53 others. On Wednesday, Andrews posted a photo of a tattoo he got to honor the victims of the shooting, which features a black circle background with a “P” in the negative space, and a red electrocardiogram “pulse” line intersecting the P. The drag queen accompanied the photo of his new Pulse tribute tattoo with the following caption: “Never forget my pulse…Or the fallen your hearts will beat on me forever, R.I.P.”

The Pulse shooting on June 12 has been reported as the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in the United States, and the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in the U.S. It came as a shock to people around the world, who united in support of the victims and their families, voicing their grief via social media, like Lady Gaga, who wrote “I pray for all the victims families during this shooting epidemic. That their pain be met with compassion and support from the world,” and Hillary Clinton, who wrote, “Woke up to hear the devastating news from FL. As we wait for more information, my thoughts are with those affected by this horrific act. -H.”

Roxxxy Andrews isn’t the only person to get a Pulse tattoo in tribute to the victims of the deadly Orlando shooting. Kelly Osbourne revealed a “solidarity” tattoo inked on the side of her head last week to commemorate the tragedy, and hundreds of people waited in line for hours this past weekend, to get tattoos remembering the victims of the Pulse shooting, with proceeds going to the families of those injured or killed in the tragedy.