Thousands of people gathered at a vigil at the University of Central Florida in Orlando last night, honoring those killed in the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub.
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“May they rest in peace eternally till we see them again”, he said. “I can’t”, said Luick-Thrams.
But the community support reached beyond just Moore County Tuesday night.
“To think that this could have been anywhere just hits really close to home; that this could happen at any moment of any time and it is just a tragedy that it had to happen at all”, Lewis said. Meanwhile, organizers of Denver’s PrideFest say next weekend’s festival will go ahead with tight security, including metal detectors and fences.
About an hour into the vigil, people on the outskirts of the crowd began lighting their candles and sharing their flames from one person to the next. In Honolulu, Rainbow Family 808 was to host a gathering at Honolulu Hale, where the city government and mayor’s office are housed, to watch as rainbow lights illuminate the building.
“We stand with our friends in Orlando and across the United States and across this world”.
“There are times like this when words seem insufficient because of the measure of hate it would take to have to do what they did to innocent people”, she said.
A minute’s silence was held at the event in City Square, where candles were lit in memory of the victims.
After a brief musical interlude, where vigil-goers sang songs of hope, unity and love, Pastor Steve Evans of Zion Lutheran Church closed the vigil with a prayer and a call to action, urging those present to do what they could to lend their support to those affected by the tragic event.
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Another speaker, Jersey City Gary & Lesbian Outreach Co-Founder Paul Mendoza – who also helps organize the city’s LGBT Pride Festival – said that while anyone in the LGBT community can be a victim of homophobia or bigotry, “hate does not win: love will conquer”.
