Tears were shed and candles were lit on Sunday night as more than 60 people gathered for a vigil at the city’s rainbow crosswalk to mourn the lives lost in one of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Omar Mateen walked into a LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Fla. with an assault rifle and a handgun and killed 49 people, according to local authorities. Fifty-three other patrons were injured. Mateen, 29, was killed by police.
Mike Tiney, president of the New West Pride Society, told the Record, the tragedy is a stark reminder why pride events are still needed.
“Every time the pride parade comes around and the pride festivals come around, a bunch of people come out and say, ‘We know that you guys are gay. We’ve dealt with it. Let’s move on.’
“We’re there to celebrate how far the community has come over the last 50 years, but there’s also a need to still educate people and still promote equality and acceptance, because it’s events like this that show them we’re not there. We’re not done fighting,” he said, adding he had planned a speech before arriving to the vigil, but when it came time to deliver it, he just couldn’t get the words out.
Past society president Jeremy Perry echoed the same sentiments.
“There are many people out there who fear for their safety who deal with hatred from their families or from workplaces, and feel they’re not accepted for who they are,” he explained. “Things like pride festivals help raise that awareness and ensure that that conversation continues, and we slowly get more and more people realizing it’s OK for people to be themselves.”
Perry added the turnout for the vigil, at Columbia and Church streets, was “amazing,” one that represented a “mix of the community.”
“There were all ages, all genders, all sexualities; there were community leaders, we had the mayor, the MLA, the school board chair, (Jonina Campbell). We had leaders from the church, there were people of all abilities, just coming together.”
Campbell, a longtime advocate of the LGBTQ community, was at a family dinner with her cousins, one of who is gay. She said he felt it was important for him to attend the event.
“This is a reality for him. He’s often talked about his sense of personal safety, sometimes out in the community,” Campbell said. “This is a reality locally as well – you can be at nightclub in Vancouver and sometimes, this is something you’re paying attention to, to your environment, because stuff can happen.”
The school board chair said one of the things that stood out from last year’s New West pride festival was how safe people felt on the street.
“I saw people walking around proudly, holding hands, kissing, dressing in ways that you would not normally see on an average day in New West or anywhere. People came out in a way that they knew that they were safe. … It was a really powerful statement, to show that they don’t feel like that everyday,” she said. “So we need to do more to make that message really visible on a daily basis, so that people feel like they can get up and they don’t have to worry that day.”
