San Francisco Stands With Orlando
SFGN Admin | David-Elijah Nahmod- 06/13/2016 1:23 pm
Hundreds gathered in San Francisco's gay-centric Castro
District to mourn the loss of LGBT life in Orlando. The vigil tool place
at 8 p.m. on June 12, the day news of the mass shooting at Orlando's
Pulse nightclub made headlines.
The vigil
was supposed to take place at Harvey Milk Plaza at the corner of Castro
and Market Streets, but so many people showed up that the vigil
stretched across the street into Jane Warner Plaza, a small parklet
named after the late San Francisco police officer Jane Warner, who was a
lesbian.
People wiped away tears and held candles as the speakers took to the stage.
Openly gay San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro District said that guns were "a disease."
"The country is awash in guns," Wiener said, speaking from
the podium. "I'm angry. We are here to recommit the fight to end
anti-LGBT violence and to force congress to do something about the damn
guns."
Supervisor David Campos, who is also gay, represents San
Francisco's primarily Latin Mission District. "It's a very difficult
day," Campos said. "As a gay Latino man this is shocking to me – we must
make sure that the Latino community is not forgotten in all of this."
Most of the victims at Pulse were LGBT Latinos.
"We've gotten complacent," Campos continued. "People of
color are often marginalized within the LGBT community. We don't want to
be remembered just when we're massacred. We want to be remembered every
day."
Campos reminded the crowd that Congress did nothing after
school children were massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in
Connecticut.
Pastor Megan Rohrer, the first openly transgender pastor
to be ordained as the leader of a Lutheran congregation, also addressed
the mourners.
"We are Queer, we are fabulous, we are beautiful," the
Pastor shouted. "We must act up and stand up. Out of the bars and into
the streets. Out of the churches and into the streets!"
"The NRA is a powerful group," said San Francisco's
interim police chief Toney Chaplin. "I'm looking at a more powerful
group. Get out and vote! If you see something suspicious, say something!
San Francisco resident Sal Navarrette, who is gay, spoke
to SFGN. "The hate that's out there saddens me," he said. "I don't want
people who hate to make me fearful. I want them to know they're uniting
us."
Brandy Jane Rose, a 22-year-old transwoman, said that the
killings in Orlando would not make her fearful of attending San
Francisco Pride in two weeks.
"I cannot not give a shit anymore," she said. "The fight is not over. We cannot back down. We cannot let them win."
The vigil concluded with the mourners singing the Civil
Rights anthem We Shall Overcome, which was followed by a march down
Market Street to San Francisco City Hall.
David-Elijah Nahmod is SFGN’s correspondent in San Francisco.
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