Ceremony honors 49 lives lost in Pulse nightclub massacre
ORLANDO, Fla. _ Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told a crowd of hundreds at Pulse nightclub Tuesday night that the club's legacy was not defined by the man who killed 49 people there two years ago _ but by the community's response.
"Pulse was a violent act carried out by a single individual, but the response to that act of evil and act of hate has been made up by thousands and thousands and thousands _ maybe even millions _ of individuals deciding to show what the opposite of evil looks like, and it looks like love," Dyer said.
Dyer said it will be up to individuals to decide how to honor Pulse's legacy, be it through political action, or urging others to vote, supporting a nonprofit or combating gun violence.
But Pulse "can't simply be a memory of something terrible that happened," Dyer said.
"It has to be more," Dyer said. "Each of us has a responsibility and a duty to decide how we're going to create the Pulse legacy, how we're going to honor the victims, how we're going to honor the families."
Dyer was one of several speakers at an evening memorial service for the 49 people who were killed in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub, two years ago.
Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said the tragedy of Pulse united Orlando around a universal principle: "We really are one people, and we really have one dream, and we have one goal as human beings, and that's to be treated equally," she said.
Dyer and Jacobs later stood together to read a joint proclamation declaring that each June 12 will be known as Orlando United Day: A Day of Love and Kindness.
_Orlando Sentinel
