The Pride flag will be raised and then lowered to half-mast at Victoria city hall this morning to honour the victims of Saturday night’s mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub.
“It’s safe to say Victorians are collectively horrified and want to do something,” said Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, after learning that a New York-born man who pledged allegiance to ISIS had gunned down 50 people about 2 a.m. EST at Pulse, a gay nightclub in the Florida resort town, during its Latin Night celebrations.
After entering the crowded club with an assault rifle and pistol, Omar Mateen, 29, opened fire, killing 50 people and wounding at least 53, according to authorities.
“This is an especially heartbreaking day for our friends who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,” said U.S. President Barack Obama in a televised address from the White House this afternoon.
He described as “an act of terror” and an “act of hate” the tragic event that drew a swift response from around the world, including here at home.
“It’s absolutely horrifying that something like this can happen in North America in 2016,” said Helps. “It doesn’t reflect who we want to be as humans, and it’s great that there has been such an outpouring of support for us to take some action.”
B.C. Premier Christy Clark said on her Twitter feed she is “incredibly saddened by the evil brutality” of the shooting in the Orlando nightclub.
“British Columbia stands united w/ #Orlando against terror and hate,” she wrote.
Victoria NDP MP Murray Rankin said in a telephone interview from Ottawa this morning that he is proud Victoria community for coming together to address the tragedy.
“We acknowledge that this is, I believe the prime minister is right in saying, an act of domestic terrorism aimed at the LGBTQ community in particular and my heart goes out to the victims and their families and I’m proud that Victoria is standing up in solidarity with them,” Rankin said.
B.C. NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert was in Quesnel helping to open Pride festivities Saturday.
“My heart weeps for the victims in Orlando, and rages against the hatred that killed them,” Chandra-Herbert posted to his Facebook page.
Helps will speak at today's public ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Victoria’s mayor will also lower the Canadian flag to half-mast.
The mayor’s Facebook page displaying the signature rainbow-coloured Pride symbol of rainbow colours and a post about the ceremony this morning was shared about 1,500 times.
Last night, there was a candlelight vigil organized by a group of individuals involved with UVic Pride.
“Let’s gather tonight in memory, in mourning and in solidarity with the LGBTQ and QT2IPOC communities in Orlando, Florida,” said a Facebook post.
Organizer Alexis Masur, 22, and some friends came up with the idea of holding a vigil outside City Hall at Douglas and Pandora beginning at 9 p.m. Sunday.
Masur, who identifies as gender queer, said organizers wanted to hold the vigil in solidarity with the LGBTQ community as well as “standing in solidarity with Muslims and queer Muslims,” said Masur, expressing concerns about why the shooter was automatically labelled a terrorist.
“The issue is that if this were a white person doing it, and they were part of a Christian organization, they wouldn’t be labelled a terrorist. But because they were Muslim, they were labelled terrorists.”
Participants were invited to bring candles and battery-operated tealights were made available.
“Keep the victims in your hearts,” said Selena Beltran, a friend of Masur’s who identifies as belonging to the Queer Trans 2-spirited Indigenous People of Colour community. “Keep your heart free of hate.”
