UM Pride Network to Host Candlelight Vigil at Lamar Park June 14

Photo from Facebook.com / The Spectrum Center (who recently held a candlelight vigil on June 12 in Hattiesburg)

Tonight at 6:00 p.m., the University of Mississippi’s Pride Network will be holding a candlelight vigil at Lamar Park Pier for the victims of the Orlando Pulse shooting massacre on June 11.

This Oxford vigil is listed on the “We Are Orlando” national registry of activism, rallies, marches, vigils and local events: http://www.weareorlando.org/

There have been candlelight vigils in Jackson, Tupelo, Biloxi and Hattiesburg.

The organizer of the Oxford candlelight vigil, Dr. Jaime Cantrell, who is a visiting assistant professor in the university’s Department of English, said, “This vigil is sponsored by the Sarah Isom Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, the Center for Inclusion & Cross Cultural Engagement, UM Pride Network, OUTlaw, the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, and PFLAG Oxford/North Mississippi.”

She also shared these words, that are also seen on the event’s Facebook page:

We gather.

We: lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, queers, questioning, intersex, gender non-conforming, asexuals, allies, heterosexuals; Oxford folks, Water Valley folks, Tupelo folks, Taylor folks; all races, all ethnicities, all religions, all nationalities, all classes, all bodies, all minds, and all hearts.

We gather.

In our grief, rage, sadness, fear, worry, pain, disillusionment, anger, heartache, hope, resentment, confusion, loss, resolve, and love.

We gather.

Dr. Cantrell added that if the attendees have candles are welcome to bring them, or use a phone with a candle app. In case of rain, the vigil will take place at the Pavilion at Lamar Park near the parking lot.

The UM Pride Network posted on its Facebook in aftermath of the Orlando shooting: “The UM Pride Network extends its deepest condolences to the families and chosen families of victims at the Orlando Pulse nightclub. Our love and prayers — as well as our resolve — are with the LGBTQ+ community: in Orlando, in Florida, and across the nation.”

Callie Daniels Bryant is the senior managing editor at HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at callie.daniels@hottytoddy.com.

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