When I reached out to the team's spokespeople to ask them why that was, they did not respond. But actually mention the targeted community by name? Not once.
Sure, they use 'safe' terms like 'pride,' and they put a rainbow on their logo. The team has not uttered the words 'LGBT,' 'gay,' lesbian,' 'bisexual,' 'transgender,' or 'sexual orientation.' Only four days after the attack did the team refer to even the name of the gay club - 'Pulse' - where the attack occurred. There has been no direct mention by the team of the target of the attack: the LGBT community. Yet in all of the team's efforts, something has been desperately missing. The team put out a seven-paragraph statement honoring the 'fallen' from the 'tragic events.'
The team's tweets and Facebook posts featured #OrlandoUnited and were adorned with rainbow flags. In the hours and days after the terrorist attack on a gay bar in Orlando, the city's Major League Soccer Club, Orlando City SC, put out dozens of messages about the tragedy.
