ORLANDO, Fla. — As Central Florida continues to remember the 49 lives lost in the Pulse nightclub shooting and honor the survivors, other spaces in Orlando’s LGBTQ+ community have continued to serve as places of connection and healing.
One of those places is Savoy Orlando, a longtime LGBTQ+ gathering place on Orange Avenue in Ivanhoe Village.
“In a lot of ways, it still feels like it was just recently,” said Brandon Llewellyn, owner of Savoy Orlando. “It doesn’t feel like it was 10 years. It’s so engrained in our memories. We carry it with us every day.”
Savoy Orlando has been open nearly every day for 21 years and is known as a staple in the LGBTQ+ community.
Llewellyn said he was bartending at Savoy the night of the Pulse shooting.
“I was here actually bartending the night it happened,” Llewellyn said. “One of our regulars that was here was here until 1 in the morning. He decided he wanted to finish his night at Pulse. It’s just one story.”
Llewellyn said he later received a text from a friend about the shooting and saw emergency vehicles as he closed the bar.
“As I was leaving here, I started seeing ambulances come by here going to Florida Hospital,” Llewellyn said. “I thought that was weird. Then realizing they were taking the non-trauma patients over here because the hospital by Pulse was so inundated. Most of us didn’t sleep that night. It was a hard few days.”
He later learned the regular who left Savoy for Pulse that night did not survive.
In the years since the shooting, Llewellyn said Savoy has continued to serve as a safe space for patrons during difficult moments and joyful ones.
“It’s humbling for me really,” Llewellyn said. “We are such a part of the community. I don’t feel like we’re just a business. We’re a space for the community. Everybody here, it’s a family. The guests, regulars, staff, it’s really a little family.”
Llewellyn said spaces like Savoy allow people to dance, laugh and smile when the world feels too heavy.
Ten years later, he said the legacy of Pulse remains part of the community’s daily life.
“The legacy of Pulse is something we carry with us every day,” Llewellyn said.
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