In what is said to be the "worst terror attack" in American history since 9/11, a lone gunman armed with an assault rifle shot and killed 50 people and injured 53 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida on Sunday.
As a mark of defiance and protest against the ghastly attack targeted at the LGBT community, social media users from across the world have been posting pictures of men kissing or embracing using the hashtag "twomenkissing".
#TwoMenKissing #Orlando #Pulse pic.twitter.com/WQbEmkP4Rg
— Tony Clements (@tonebobb) June 12, 2016
The father of the mass murderer says his son became "very angry" after seeing "two men kissing" #twomenkissing pic.twitter.com/tqf245SQiI
— Dark Entries Records (@darkentriesrecs) June 12, 2016
If the sight of #twomenkissing is so abhorrent to you, then maybe you haven't seen enough. Let's break the Internet. pic.twitter.com/YZWPjXOMIs
— Jorgesteban (@thejesteban) June 12, 2016
Father of Orlando murderer says son was angry seeing 2 men kissing. I say flood the world with pics: #twomenkissing pic.twitter.com/sWEIA1pJBT
— K.M. Soehnlein (@kmsoehnlein) June 12, 2016
Sharing photos I found of #twomenkissing to show how beautiful it is. We can't let hatred win. #loveislove pic.twitter.com/hZzSU2oSt4
— Josh H. (@joshkhorton) June 13, 2016
Life should be beautiful and love should forever be celebrated above hate and bigotry #TwoMenKissing pic.twitter.com/AYh2cYiDz6
— Carl Fearn (@carljfearn) June 13, 2016
If #TwoMenKissing is now an act of defiance, activism has never been so pleasant pic.twitter.com/BDOz9mYwhI
— Wouter S van Dijke (@WoutervD) June 13, 2016
The shooter, who was later shot dead by the police, has been identified as Omar Mateen who pledged allegiance to ISIS in a phone call to emergency number 911 during the attack.
Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard who was born in New York to Afghan parents, called 911 after his initial assault on the dance club to pledge allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, law enforcement officials were quoted as saying by media reports.
During the call, he also mentioned the Boston bombers -- Tsarnaev brothers, who carried out the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.
He made the 911 call from a bathroom of the gay club in Orlando, Florida. During the call he gave his full name, officials said.
(PTI inputs)