NOTE: June 15, 10 p.m. The location has been moved from Victory Park to Veterans Park.
MANCHESTER, NH — A group of local young people have organized a vigil for June 17 to be held in Manchester at Veterans Park, to honor the lives lost in the June 12 shooting at an Orlando nightclub. It’s also meant to show unity as a whole community at a time of uncertainty.
We wanted to find out more about their efforts. Below is a Q&A with Cass Robin, one of the organizers, from Goffstown High School:
Q: Who is organizing the vigil?
A. The vigil is being organized by myself, my friend Molly Hutchinson, and her friend Kate Waldo-Fillion.
Q: Tell me a little more about the school-based organizations at Goffstown and Souhegan.
A. The school organizations at Goffstown and Souhegan are the school Gender-Sexuality Alliances, or GSAs, and they are a safe space and support system for the LGBT students in the school so they can find others like them and learn how to be safe within the schools with their sexual orientations and gender identities, we work to make sure these students are getting the support they need whether they are supported by their families or not as well as getting advice on how to deal with homophobic and transphobic home lives, along with advice on coming out safely to family members.
Q: Why is it important to bring the community together here in NH at this time?
A. It is extremely important to bring the LGBT community here in New Hampshire together in mourning because events like this, in which LGBT people are targeted for hate crimes, scares everyone. It depresses the community and makes us scared and worried that maybe one day it could be us. We need to come together to show that we can be brave in this time of fear so we can rely on one another for safety and feel comfort within our own community. We, as the LGBT community, need to show that we will continue to fight for our own safety and get the rights we deserve as human beings because of this tragedy so others don’t happen, and we will show that the victims’ lives mattered as much as anyone else’s lives.
Q: How did you choose the charitable organizations for candle proceeds?
A. The charitable organizations were chosen by Molly and Kate because they are LGBT-friendly and were willing to help with our cause to show their support for the community.
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: I decided to create this event with the help of my friend Molly because I thought, and she agreed, that the victims of this crime deserved to be honored for having been murdered in an LGBT safe haven just enjoying themselves during LGBT pride month, a month which is honored for the stonewall uprising which got the LGBT civil rights movement started. Many people are trying to say these gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, et cetera, people deserved to die just because of who they are, but that is not true; these people had families and built lives and just because they were not cisgender or heterosexual does not mean they deserve to be dehumanized and okay to be murdered. These people and their lives mattered so much to everyone who knew them and those families and friends deserve to know that their children’s and friends’ community will stand with them and honor them.
About the vigil:
A vigil will be held Friday, June 17, 2016 from 9 – 9:30 p.m. at Veterans Park, located at 889 Elm Street, across from the Radisson Hotel (click here for directions).
There will be 200 glow sticks available. The group is asking for a donation of any amount, great or small, for a stick. All donations will go to We Are Orlando and Pulse Victims Fund at GoFundMe.
No candles or open flames, please.
The vigil will be led in prayer and a moment of silence by Rabbi Eric Cohen of Temple Israel, Manchester.
You can contact the organizers via their Facebook Event Page.
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