Atlantans say 'We are Orlando,' demand Pulse shooting not contribute to bigotry
I've done all the crying I need to do - I needed to be around people in my community tonight'
“I believe in love,” Rabbi Joshua Lesser of Congregation Bet Haverim said last night to a massive and diverse crowd in Downtown, kicking off one of several Atlanta vigils that have been held in honor of the 49 victims killed in the June 11 shooting at Pulse, an Orlando gay nightclub.
After Lesser opened with a blessing, leaders from groups including the LGBT Institute of Atlanta, Georgia Equality, Muslims for Progressive Values, and Lambda Legal, took the stage to offer reflections in English and Spanish on the massacre and ways forward for Atlantans. According to Atlanta Police Department estimates, roughly 3,000 people attended the “We Are Orlando” vigil outside the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
Though the Orlando shooting victims were largely part of that city’s Latino LGBTQ community, Atlanta’s vigil focused as much on acceptance, love, and tolerance for Muslims, as well as people of color and members of the LGBTQ community.
“We want to be mindful of using this word ‘terrorist,’” Holiday Simmons of Lambda Legal said. “While in fact this was an act of terror, such words have become inflammatory in these times, and they only strengthen public Islamophobic sentiment.”
Lesser thanked Atlanta’s Muslim community for its support of LGBTQ people. He said Muslim leaders “quickly penned” letters in the aftermath of the massacre thanking the LGBTQ community for speaking out against Islamophobia.
“We pledge not to let this incident further bigotry and misunderstanding in our communities,” Lesser said.
State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, called Muslims’ support of Atlanta’s LGBTQ community critical, “because you have people who are saying that after what happened in Orlando, they have to be enemies,” he said.
Imam Plemon El-Amin of Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam prayed for protection from “fear that cripples, from hate that assaults and murders, from extremism that destroys and abuses.”
There was also a specific focus on transgender Atlantans. Chanel Haley, transgender inclusion organizer for Georgia Equality, said “our faces could have replaced theirs."
"Trans people feel this way every day,” Haley said, referring to the fear of persecution or violence as a result of their identity. Last year 21 trans people were killed in the United States.
In one of the more emotional moments of the night, various speakers read the shooting victims' names. A small choir followed, singing India Arie’s “I am light”.
According to LGBT Institute Executive Director Ryan Roemerman, 3 million LGBTQ people live in the South, more than any other region of the country. Yet few Southern states have passed employment discrimination laws protecting people from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Georgia is among those that have not approved protections.
The sense of community among the religious and social groups represented is why many came to the vigil, attendees said. “I’ve done all the crying I need to do — I needed to be around people in my community tonight,” said Tony Kearney.
Dana Turner said she came to the vigil to be reminded that the Waycross, Georgia native is not part of the community she saw posting “heartless, thoughtless” comments on social media: “I wanted to be around people who are loving and realize that these are human beings that lost their lives in such a tragic way.”
According to published reports, the Omar Matten, the Orlando shooter, told his father he was sickened by the sight of seeing two men kissing. Moe Prado, the vice president of LatinoLinQ, talked about the hope it gave him to see LGBTQ Atlantans posting pictures of them celebrating loving relationships.
“That’s the kind of world I want to live in,” he said to roaring applause. “Showing love to each other. Is that awful? Is that a reason to kill someone?”