The massacre, which left 49 victims dead and more than 50 injured, occurred early Sunday morning at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Omar Mateen, the gunman who died in the attack, had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
In Burlington, Brass Balagan, a red-garbed street band, led the procession, playing somber ballads on horns and drums. Couples walked arm in arm. Rainbow flags hung along Church Street. Diners at Leunig’s Bistro & Café cheered in support as people strode by.
Deep in the crowd was a recognizable figure: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who made a surprise appearance at the event with his wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders, and his entourage of Secret Service officers.Sanders was only the most famous of dozens of political figures who marched. Mayor Miro Weinberger and city councilors ditched their Board of Finance meeting to join.
The march, organized on short notice by the Pride Center of Vermont, ended with speeches in City Hall Park. Looking out over the crowd from the steps of City Hall, Weinberger speculated that it was the largest gathering ever in the park.
Kim Fountain, the Pride Center’s executive director, told the group, “This morning when I left the house I looked at my partner and said, ‘Love you, honey, and be safe.’ And I thought, be safe? I’ve never said that before.”
Reading from several crumpled papers, Sanders assailed anti-Muslim sentiment. “To blame an entire religion for the acts of a single individual is bigotry, pure and simple. It is not what this country is about and not what this city is about.”
He continued: “Our job is not to allow politicians — Mr. Trump or anyone else — to divide us up by where our family came from, the color of our skin, our religion or our sexual orientation. Our job is to take pride in our diversity to bring our people together and not let hatred divide us up.”
Sanders concluded on a subject that has at times dogged him during his presidential run: gun control. Here, however, he was on comfortable ground, advocating for something he’s long supported. “The weapon used in Orlando was legally purchased and it is time for us to really rethink something that I have believed for decades: whether or not it makes sense for people today to be able to walk into a store and purchase a military-style weapon, which has one purpose and one purpose alone — and that is to kill people.”
Among the speakers was a local imam, Islam Hassan, who was chosen to speak on behalf of a half dozen faith leaders who attended the event. Condemning the shooting, Hassan said, “We’re here behind you to support you.”
“This is a wake-up call,” longtime LGBT advocate Jason Lorber said at the end of the event. “The world is not as we want it.”
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Miro Weinberger’s failed housing policy has forced many into outdoor encampments. This situation makes people vulnerable, particularly LGBTQ youth, to abuse and attack. Transgendered Amos Beede is one such case. He then appears at a vigil for Amos to piously decry his murder and then announces that he’s going to clear the encampments without any alternative. Burlington residents are suckers for prayer vigils. Fuck prayers. We want action! End Weinberger’s gentrification of our city. Housing for the people. Diversity over luxury for the 1%
More pictures: http://www.roymercon.com/lovewins/
of course Bernie…reminding us he’s still in the mix.
While the Orlando shootings were a horrific and terrible event that tragically targeted the gay community,which has already suffered way too much persecution, I sometimes wish that we narcissistic Americans would also be as concerned with human rights violations and outright massacres of a far worse magnitude and nature.
A recent example was what happened to the Yazidis. I dare say many Americans have no idea who they even are. They are a Kurdish ethnic group that suffered horrible losses (100 times the number of deaths than Orlando) in many cases far worse than gunshots and the women and girls were brutally raped and sold as sex slaves. We need to also remember those in other parts of the world whose suffering can often far exceed ours.
Sincerely, Bill G.
” . . . particularly LGBTQ youth, to abuse and attack. Transgendered Amos Beede is one such case.”
Beede was not a youth, and he was not attacked because he was transgendered.
Your use of a shooting rampage in Orlando, FL by a sick individual in a nightclub, to attack the mayor’s policies to expand housing and employment opportunities in Burlington, VT, is just way off the mark.