FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. – As he finished his set, Chris Gollon asked if there was a rainbow behind him.
There was.
What has become a symbol of the LGBTQIA+ community, it was only fitting a rainbow should appear over the stage at Veterans Park. Sunday evening, two dozen community members gathered for a vigil to mark the anniversary of the massacre of 49 individuals and the wounding of just as many attending the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, on June 12, 2016.
Sharing a personal story, organizer Erica Rivera, president of Flagler Pride invited others to share their words of comfort or grief with those assembled, after the group marched around the park while she listed the names of those killed.
Attending in support, Flagler Beach Mayor Suzie Johnston read a proclamation presented by the city.
“Today we’re here in Veterans Park and it’s a Pride vigil and this is important tonight because I read for the second time a proclamation to make June 2023 as LGBTQ Pride Month in the City of Flagler Beach, and this is historic because it’s the first time we’ve read this proclamation in the City of Flagler Beach,” said Johnston.
“It shows that we’re moving our city forward. Flagler Beach welcomes everyone and that’s what we want everyone to know. Here in Flagler Beach, we love you.”
She condemned the Pulse massacre.
“It was a hate crime. It was the largest hate crime, I believe, to this day. It’s just people being people. We all have something in common you just have to look for it instead of always looking for the differences in someone. Look for what you have in common.”
Joining Johnston, Flagler Beach City Commissioner Eric Cooley noted the divisions in society driving an inability to communicate with respect.
“One of the things all the leadership here in Flagler Beach prides ourselves on is not having this divisive style rhetoric that goes on all the time,” said Cooley. “We don’t talk about party affiliations, we don’t talk about anything that divides us. We’re here to talk about people, being neighborly, work our issues. We want to be the anti to all the division that’s happening right now.”
“Right now, it seems like a lot of groups are surfacing that are just looking for division, whether it be religious extremism, race, gender identity, all this stuff. All it is is ways to divide us and get people to fight amongst themselves. You really don’t need to do that to be a well-functioning community. I think that’s the message we always strive to carry forward. You’ve got to respect everyone’s opinions, respect who they are, and hear their side. The whole reason why this shooting happened is based in the division and the hate we’re trying to get rid of,” he said.
The vigil closed out three days of celebration and remembrance in honor of Pride Month.
