Deepest sympathy to all the loved ones left behind following this outrage.
New York City’s LGBT community gathered in front of the historic Stonewall Inn to collectively mourn the deaths of at least 50 people at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
New York Police Department heightens security near LGBT landmarks
“We come today because we want to value the people who were lost in orlando,” one speaker yelled to the crowd of hundreds packed along Christopher Street in the West Village. “We come today for the past. We come today for the present. And we come today because we are a community that will never be silent again!”
The Stonewall Inn became the national symbol of LGBT rights in 1969 after law enforcement raided the premises, and gay and trans residents resisted, sparking the Stonewall Riots. President Barack Obama named the tavern a national monument in May, the first official US landmark to honour LGBT rights. On Sunday, law enforcement flanked the historic street, assault weapons in hand, as the city remained on high alert.
