For years, the United States has been viewed as a haven for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people around the world, with immigration authorities approving asylum for LGBT people fleeing violence, LGBT students coming for college, and wealthy internationals choosing the U.S. for vacations.

But in the wake of the massacre at Pulse, the gay club in Orlando, Fla., where 49 people were killed and 53 wounded this week, some in the international LGBT community are questioning the country’s reputation as global leader in acceptance and safety. Others, watching tearful vigils against backdrops of rainbow flags and the forceful repudiations of homophobia, have marveled with hope at how the nation is responding to anti-gay violence.

Via social media, in houses of worship, and through public demonstrations and vigils all over—in Bangalore, in Nairobi, in Singapore–the Orlando killings have brought together global LGBT communities like rarely before, and opened up a quiet debate on gay life in America.