HALLOWELL — Danielle Pluhacek, who moved to Hallowell two months ago from Orlando where, as a straight ally, she frequented the gay nightclub where a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 others early Sunday morning, said she felt completely hopeless and alone learning of the attack so far from her friends and family.
“You’re not alone!” multiple attendees of a riverside vigil in Hallowell held to commemorate the victims of the shooting shouted after Pluhacek, in tears, told her story to the crowd of more than 100.
She said the nightclub, Pulse, was founded by a woman who wanted to create a place where gay people could feel safe.
“You could feel the joy when you walked into that place,” Pluhacek said. She said she felt alone and frustrated she was too far away to be with friends and family or give blood or help in other ways in her hometown of Orlando. She thanked the crowd for the support they showed at the vigil.
Cony High School student Swan Shepherd, 17, read the names and ages of 48 people shot and killed in the incident, at least one as young as 19. One victim has not yet been identified. She said she heard about the incident when one of her best friends sent her a link about it and asked, “Why aren’t we safe?”
She said it breaks her heart that in 2016 gay people are still fighting against hate. But she said it made her happy to know that people won’t give up that fight, no matter what.
“I hope everyone here tonight keeps fighting the good fight. Thank you to the allies who are here,” she said. “And to everyone in the queer community, I hope you keep fighting and stay strong and your pulse is felt everywhere.”
Musician Sarah Crosby, of Whitefield, started the vigil by playing the late John Lennon’s “Imagine” and concluded it by singing, as fingers snapped along in the crowd, Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.”
The attack is the deadliest mass shooting in United State history.
State Rep.Charlotte Warren, D-Hallowell, said she and friend Bruce Mayo were chatting on Facebook Monday morning when they realized they needed to do something, to get people together and share what they were feeling about the tragedy.
She said when she was in college she used to drive an hour and 25 minutes to go to a gay bar. She said the first time she walked out onto the dance floor there, “I felt so safe.”
She said people who want to spread hate in the attack “messed with the wrong community. Because we’re about love. Let’s send our love down the Kennebec River into the Atlantic and to that beautiful city (of Orlando) so they can feel our love.”
Rabbi Erica Asch of Temple Beth El in Augusta, a Hallowell resident, said she knew some will blame Muslims for the attack in addition to the gunman, Omar Mateen, who was born in New York to Afghan parents and who, media reports indicated, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a call to police during the attack.
“We know some will blame an entire religion because of the actions of a single person,” Asch said. She said no religion is better than any other. She said the attack is a reminder that homophobia still exists and a reminder of what can happen when guns and ammunition are readily available.
Resident Betsy Sweet urged people to live in love, not in fear. She led the group in meditation with everyone holding hands.
“Be kind and love one another,” she said.
The vigil was held amid the rainbow-colored chairs on the city’s Kennebec River bulkhead in Granite City Park at 7 p.m.
“Our hearts are broken. But our hearts are strong,” wrote organizers on a Facebook page announcing the vigil.
“In the wake of Sunday’s tragedy in Orlando, we need to bring our hearts together — to share our strength — and to send an exponential amount of love out into our world. What better place to gather a whole bundle of love and ship it out to sea than along the side of the Kennebec River in Hallowell, Maine?”
Two other local vigils are planned for Tuesday. The Capital Area Multifaith Association is sponsoring an evening vigil at 7 p.m. in Market Square Park in Augusta and a vigil is planned for 6:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park in Waterville, according to EqualityMaine.
Keith Edwards — 621-5647
Twitter: @kedwardskj
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