Billy Manes, a Florida journalist who became a national voice for Orlando's gay community in the months after the Pulse nightclub shooting, has died. He was 45.
Manes died Friday after complications from pneumonia led to organ failure, according to a statement Manes' husband gave to his former employer, the Orlando Weekly.
Anthony Mauss said Manes had been ill for several weeks.
Manes worked at the Orlando Weekly for years before becoming editor of the Watermark, central Florida's leading gay publication. He announced Sunday on Facebook that he had been let go from Watermark.
After the shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse in June 2016, Manes became a voice for the gay community, doing interviews on NPR and NBC. Forty-nine people died during the massacre.
