Pulse survivor Angel Colon stands tall with a crutch under one arm on the cover of The Advocate magazine. Bold white letters across his chest read "Orlando Strong." Below him, mourners cry and police sirens flash.
The LGBT magazine named Colon, along with the other heroes of the Pulse shootings, People of the Year in its December issue.
Colon was shot five times during the 3-hour mass shooting at Pulse on June 12. Three of those bullets lodged in his right leg, making it impossible for him to get out of the club safely on his own.
When shooter Omar Mateen returned to the area where Colon was lying, the 26-year-old man played dead. He had no other choice.
A police officer carried Colon, one of the only people in that area of the club who was still alive, to safety. Colon was one of 53 injured people who survived the massacre. Another 49 were killed.
The magazine honored Colon, the other survivors, first responders, the city of Orlando and the LGBT community as a whole as People of the Year.
"The Pulse survivors embody the best of the LGBT community, despite how some in the community have reacted," journalist Michael Lambert writes in the magazine's cover story.
Editor-in-chief Matthew Breen outlined in a statement the rise in hate speech after Pulse, but on a more positive note he wrote that the tragedy also spurred discussions of gun control, addressing federal discriminatory policies, the need for safe spaces for queer people and "the continued anti-LGBT rhetoric in America."
He said the choice to honor those affected by the Pulse shootings was an obvious one.
"The mass murder at Pulse was undoubtedly the biggest LGBT news story of the year, so it was manifestly clear to us that the heroes of Pulse, the survivors, and those who came to the rescue of the victims, their families, and the LGBT community in Orlando, should be our People of the Year," Breen said,
You can read the full article detailing Colon's path to recovery, the repercussions of Pulse and how the LGBT community plans to move forward at Advocate.com.