A group of about 100 people gathered at last night for a solemn, heartfelt and often emotional final farewell to the 49 LGBT people who were murdered on June 12th at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Led by Sister Merry Peter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Pastor Megan Rohrer of Grace Lutheran Church, the evening
culminated in the reverential removal of the dozens of flowers,
photographs, votive candles, rainbow flags and other mementos that had
been placed in front of the Bank of America building at 18th &
Castro streets. The memorial's removal comes after candles left at the site caused a small fire on Monday morning.
While the fire was put out quickly and caused no structural damage, the
Castro CBD decided the memorial needed to be taken down for safety
reasons—but not before a final farewell from the community. Sister of Perpetual Indulgence's Merry Peter beginning the blessing ceremony. photo: steven bracco/hoodlineThe service opened with an invocation from Sister Merry. "Let's have a moment of silence for Orlando, for Istanbul, for Syria and for the Bayview,"
the Sister said. "We are coming together as a community who built this
memorial that is a focus for our grieving. It's time to open the space
to joy."
"We want to make sure that before we take [the memorial] down, we get
it out," Pastor Rohrer, the first openly transgender leader to be
installed in a Lutheran congregation, told the assembly. "We must live our lives for remembrance—that all who wonder if their lives matter are ensured that their lives are sacred."
Rohrer held up 49 small signs, one for each of the 49 people killed
in Orlando. The crowd applauded as each sign was held up one by one, and
randomly handed to various attendees.
"Queer lives matter," stated one sign.
"We're here, we're queer, get used to it," said another.
"Gun control is a gay issue," stated a third.
Pastor Rohrer then invited mourners to step up and speak if they were moved to do so.
Jerry Skittles said that three of his cousins, all of whom were
planning on attending SF Pride this year, had died at Pulse. "They
couldn't come, and now they're up there, watching over us with Pride,"
he said.
"Don't judge me because the Lord made me just like he made you," said Thelma Flores.
"Be kinder to each other," said Jaime Miranda. "Have each other's back." Volunteers and blessing attendees help clean up the memorial. photo: steven bracco/hoodlineOpenly
gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener, whose district includes the
Castro, did not address the crowd. He stood quietly in the background,
his eyes welling up with tears.
"This memorial was completely organic from the community," Wiener
told Hoodline after the ceremony. "It's only fitting that we bless it
and that we preserve it for posterity, so that we always remember
Orlando."
The hour-long service concluded with a final invocation from Sister
Merry, who asked the mourners to join her in a brief shout, for the
purpose of letting go of anger and grief.
"I release you," the Sister said. "You have your own dancing to do."
The mourners were invited to take any mementos from the memorial which moved them. The rest were collected by the GLBT Historical Society.
Thousands Rally for Orlando Massacre Vigil in the Castro
By Dennis McMillan
Thousands gathered in the streets and on sidewalks near the Harvey
Milk Plaza in the Castro in front of a stage on a flatbed truck to
respond to the worst mass shooting ever in America’s history, and the
worst loss of lives on our soil since 9-11. A total of 49 died and 53
patrons were wounded in the Orlando, Florida gay nightclub, Pulse,
during Latin Night.
Two Drag Kings known as Momma’s Boyz opened the Castro vigil singing a
mournful “Freedom” song to a tearful crowd. But the energy changed to
anger and resolve when speakers took the podium. Supervisor Scott Wiener
said, “We’re here today to recommit ourselves to the fight, to honor
the survivors, to send good energy to the families and friends who have
been left behind.”
Supervisor David Campos said, “As a gay Latino man, it is not
shocking to me that the worst mass shooting in the history of this
country would target the queer community.” He added, “We want our
leaders to think of queer people of color not just when there’s a
massacre, but every single day.” As many of the speakers stated, he
emphasized opposition to Islamophobia and xenophobia. “We are all in
this together. I know that targeting the Muslim community is simply
wrong, and we’re going to speak out against it.”
Approximately two-thirds of the Orlando victims were Latino. Lito
Sandoval, SF Latino Democratic Club president, noted, “Latino leaders
were not contacted [for the vigil]. We had to reach out.” He stressed,
“Acts like this don’t make me want to back down. They make me want to
continue to fight.”
Among the many Muslims speaking at the rally was a Muslim doctor from
San Francisco General Hospital, Suzanne Barakat, M.D. saying, “As a
physician, I see these tragedies as symptoms of a deeper illness, a
disease of the soul that goes by different names.”
Former Assemblyman and former Supervisor Tom Ammiano joked that NRA
was an acronym for “National Real A-holes.” He made several fun-loving
ribald jokes, but ended seriously, saying, “We are still here. We are
still strong. We are still fighting, and we’re not going to live in
fear!”
“We’ve known gun violence before,” shouted Pastor Megan Rohrer.
“Angry people of faith are not the majority. We are queer. We are
transgender. We are fabulous, we are faithful. We must stand up. We must
vote until everyone is safe in bathrooms, in churches, and in the …
streets.”
“There’s a lot of heartache, but we are coming together to create
some type of solidarity, not only in San Francisco but also beyond
ourselves,” said Dyke March organizer Rosa M. Hernandez.
Sister Merry Peter and Sister Roma of The Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence led the crowd in a recitation call and response, asking
everyone to lift up their candles and repeat each time, “We shine our
light on you!”
Mayor Ed Lee spoke through a few boos from the audience, “We’re here
in unity so we can stop this violence, and San Francisco must lead the
way. Hatred will not drive out hatred, and darkness will not drive out
the dark.” He concluded, “This is a stark reminder that violence still
threatens our LGBT community.”
Toney Chaplin, Interim Police Chief who was recently appointed after
Chief Greg Suhr resigned, said, “The NRA is a powerful group, but I am
staring at a more powerful group.” He added, “We need to get this
legislation in place to change the gun laws in this country.” He noted
that San Francisco Police have increased patrols in the Castro and
elsewhere. And they promise to really step up security at the San
Francisco Pride Parade and Celebration.
Members of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus closed the vigil by
singing “We Are a Gentle, Angry People,” with SFGMC Director Dr. Timothy
Seelig leading the crowd in the familiar Holly Near protest song. Then
they sang “We Shall Overcome” and closed with an old Irish blessing
ending with “May God hold you in the palm of His hand.”
Following the rally in the Castro, people marched peacefully but
defiantly to City Hall, which was appropriately lit in the rainbow
colors. The names of murdered victims were read aloud. After the rally,
many left their candles burning on a statue of Abraham Lincoln at City
Hall. So appropriate, as Lincoln was murdered for civil rights.
To support the victims and their families, please go to gofundme.com/pulsevictimsfund
