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San Francisco Weeps With Orlando Following Nightclub Attack

5 minute read

At a plaza in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood, a place where LGBT people have rallied and partied and held vigils many times before, a local named Larry Bisagni busily scrawled on the ground with chalk. It took him about a half hour Monday afternoon to write the names and ages of all the people who were killed in Orlando at a gay club the day before, in the deadliest shooting in U.S. history.

Though the shooting happened across the country in Florida, San Francisco feels the tragedy and “weeps,” as one protest sign said.

The plaza was named for local hero and LGBT icon Harvey Milk, an openly gay lawmaker who was shot to death and publicly mourned in this same neighborhood nearly 40 years ago. At the bottom of his long list, Bisagni wrote a quote from the namesake: “Hope will never be silent.” Strangers cried and hugged each other. Friends kissed and held hands.

Katy Steinmetz for TIME

“When is this going to stop?” said Bisagni, a consultant. “These senseless mass shootings. As human beings, we are better than this.” Asked why he made the list, he said, “I did this because these people deserve to be remembered. To somebody, whether a partner, whether a sibling, whether a child, whether a parent, somebody on this list was everything to someone.”

“You stop and look at how many names are here,” he said, looking at 49 of them. “ It gives you perspective.”

Bisagni’s somber, yet colorful, decorations were not the first on this corner. Streamers in all the colors of the rainbow had been tied to nearby posts, alongside blue pieces of paper with notes scribbled on them. “In memory of everyone at Orlando. You will always be loved,” read one. “Let us love each other. We are all human beings,” read another.

Katy Steinmetz for TIME

In a city that has long prided itself as a celebratory haven for LGBT people, the assault on Orlando felt, in part, like an assault on people here. Many residents of the Castro feel broken. Some are struggling not to let anger take them over as the facts still come in — whether anger at the shooter, at homophobia, at ISIS, at the FBI who interviewed the shooter and let him go, or at the failure of progressive politicians to pass stricter gun control laws.

“I can’t let the anger take hold of me,” said Jim Martinez, a limo driver who lives in the neighborhood. “We can’t let violence get in the way of our way of life.”

Vigils Held Around the World for Orlando Shooting Victims

Thousands gather at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts to pay their respects for those lost in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando on June 13, 2016.
Thousands gather at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts to pay their respects for those lost in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando on June 13, 2016. Candlelight vigils and remembrances for the victims of the shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Early Sunday, an American-born man who had recently pledged allegiance to ISIS opened fire in the nightclub killing at least 49 people, in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.Samuel Corum—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Men embrace during a candle light vigil in memory of victims one day after a mass shooting at the Pulse gay night club in Orlando on June 13, 2016.
Men embrace during a candle light vigil in memory of victims one day after a mass shooting at the Pulse gay night club in Orlando on June 13, 2016. Adrees Latif—Reuters
Taylor Forrest (C), of Orlando, Florida, cries on the sidewalk near a memorial for the victims of a mass shooting at a gay club in Orlando outside of the Stonewall Inn, a famous gay bar, in New York City on June 13, 2016.
Taylor Forrest (C), of Orlando, Florida, cries on the sidewalk near a memorial for the victims of a mass shooting at a gay club in Orlando outside of the Stonewall Inn, a famous gay bar, in New York City on June 13, 2016. Justin Lane—EPA
Hundreds of people listen to speakers at a memorial gathering for those killed in Orlando in front of the iconic New York City gay and lesbian bar The Stonewall Inn on June 13, 2016.
Hundreds of people listen to speakers at a memorial gathering for those killed in Orlando in front of the iconic New York City gay and lesbian bar The Stonewall Inn on June 13, 2016.Spencer Platt—Getty Images
A woman joins others in writing the names of shooting victims in chalk in a park across from the iconic New York City gay and lesbian bar The Stonewall Inn on June 13, 2016.
A woman joins others in writing the names of shooting victims in chalk in a park across from the iconic New York City gay and lesbian bar The Stonewall Inn on June 13, 2016.Spencer Platt—Getty Images
A couple embraces as people gather in front of a makeshift memorial in New York City to remember the victims of a mass shooting in Orlando, June 12, 2016.
A couple embraces as people gather in front of a makeshift memorial to the victims of a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, in New York City on June 12, 2016. Andres Kudacki—AP
Flags at the Washington Monument fly at half staff to honor those killed in last weekend's shootings at a gay club in Orlando, Florida, in Washington, DC, U.S. June 13, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2FY94
Flags at the Washington Monument fly at half staff to honor those killed in last weekend's shootings at a gay club in Orlando, Fla., in Washington on June 13, 2016.Kevin Lamarque—Reuters
People take part during a vigil in solidarity outside Manhattan's historic Stonewall Inn to express their support for the victims killed at Pulse nightclub in Orlando in New York on June 13 ,2016. The American gunman who launched a murderous assault on a gay nightclub in Orlando was radicalized by Islamist propaganda, officials said Monday, as they grappled with the worst terror attack on US soil since 9/11. / AFP PHOTO / KENA BETANCURKENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images
People take part during a vigil in solidarity outside Manhattan's historic Stonewall Inn to express their support for the victims killed at Pulse nightclub in Orlando in New York on June 13, 2016.Kena Betancur—AFP/Getty Images
Members and supporters of the lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and queer (LGTBQ) community attend a candlelight vigil outside the White House in Washington, D.C., June 12 2016.
Members and supporters of the LGBT community attend a candlelight vigil outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on June 12, 2016. Jim Lo Scalzo—EPA
White roses and rainbow flags are displayed in front of the US Embassy in Berlin on June 13, 2016.
White roses and rainbow flags are displayed in front of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin on June 13, 2016.John MacDougall—AFP/Getty Images
A member of the public holds a candle during a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, at Frank Kitts Park in Wellington, June 13 2016.
A candlelight vigil for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando was held at Frank Kitts Park in Wellington, New Zealand, on June 13, 2016. Hagen Hopkins—Getty Images
People attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Orlando attack against a gay night club, held in San Francisco, June 12, 2016.
People attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, held in San Francisco on June 12, 2016. Beck Diefenbach—Reuters
People gather to mourn, honor and remember the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting at Newtown, in Sydney, Australia on June 13, 2016.
People gather to mourn, honor and remember the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney, Australia on June 13, 2016.Sam Mooy—EPA
Participants hold candles during a vigil at Frank Kits Park in remembrance of victims after a gunman opened fire in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Wellington, New Zealand on June 13, 2016.
Participants hold candles during a vigil at Frank Kitts Park in remembrance of victims after a gunman opened fire at an Orlando nightclub, in Wellington, New Zealand on June 13, 2016. Marty Melville—AFP/Getty Images
Mourners gather outside of the iconic New York City gay and lesbian bar the Stonewall Inn to light candles,lay flowers and grieve for those killed in Orlando last evening on June 12, 2016.
Mourners gather outside of the iconic New York City gay and lesbian bar the Stonewall Inn to light candles, lay flowers and grieve for those killed in Orlando on June 12, 2016.Spencer Platt—Getty Images
People take part in a candlelight vigil for the victims of a shooting in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida in Hong Kong, Hong Kong on June 13, 2016.
People take part in a candlelight vigil for the victims of a shooting in a gay nightclub in Orlando, in Hong Kong on June 13, 2016. Anthony Kwan—Getty Images
*** BESTPIX *** South Korean Mourners Remember Victims Of Mass Shooting At Orlando Nightclub
People gather during a vigil in downtown Seoul to remember victims of the shooting at an Orlando nightclub, in Seoul, South Korea, on June 13, 2016.Chung Sung-Jun—Getty Images

Dressed in a T-shirt bearing Harvey Milk’s face, Martinez had been embracing another tearful onlooker, though they’d never met before: Devin Ampola, a young man who works in his parents’ jewelry store in nearby Pacifica, Calif. Ampola said his first thoughts on hearing about the shooting were of young, closeted people who were already too scared to come out. “The simplest, most powerful form of protest is just to be who you are,” he said.

Thousands of locals — including many local politicians — appeared in the neighborhood Sunday night for speeches and a vigil. For about a mile, nearly every lamppost leading to the spot where they spoke had been decorated with a rainbow flag (because it is LGBT Pride Month). But for the first time in years, the grand flag that sits at the top of Castro Street had been lowered to half mast.

Katy Steinmetz for TIME

Down the block from Harvey Milk’s plaza, outside the local Bank of America, was a growing memorial piled with signs, candles and flowers. The same space has been used before to remember those who died of AIDS, and on Monday onlookers remembered other tragedies that had brought them to this spot. Signs showed the states of California and Florida decorated with defiant messages of solidarity like, “You only made us stronger.” Others mentioned Sandy Hook, the elementary school in Connecticut where 20 children were killed in a 2012 mass shooting.

A young mother who lives a few blocks from the memorial was one of several dozen people gathered in silence, which was occasionally broken by a hug or a smile. She brought her 14-month-old son, Diego, and dressed him in rainbow stockings, under American flag shorts. “It’s not just the queer community. It’s all of us,” said Melissa Porras. “I just don’t understand it. I see it as a hate crime whether it’s within the U.S. or without.” People must embrace each other, she says, “instead of lashing out.”

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