CHICAGO — A Boystown vigil will honor the victims of the Pulse shooting that left 49 people dead one year ago Monday.
The Center on Halsted, an organization dedicating to helping LGBTQ Chicagoans, is hosting the candlelit vigil and a sunset bell toll. Several people will speak, and the Windy City Gay Chorus and Windy City Treble Quire will sing a song from their upcoming show, "PULSE."
The vigil will run 6-7 p.m. Monday at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St.
The June 12, 2016, shooting at the Orlando gay nightclub left 49 dead and more than 50 wounded. It remains the deadliest mass shooting and the deadliest single act against LGBTQ people in United States history.
The mood in Boystown was somber after the shooting, but Chicagoans came together at several events to honor the victims and promote love, diversity and tolerance.
"It's jarring — it really rocks the sense of complacency and safety a lot of us have come to expect, and it shows that the LGBT community's work is not done in this country," said a Center on Halsted spokesman after the shooting. Night clubs like Pulse "are there for the same reason LGBT centers like this exist: to bring people together and build a space for empowerment."
A vigil hosted by the Center on Halsted last year drew about 500 people, according to a news release from the group, and even more are expected this year.
