WAILUKU, Maui — Members and supporters of Maui’s LGBT community gathered on a Kihei beach to honor the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting.
The Maui News reported that nearly 200 people attended the vigil on the shore in front of the Maui Sunseeker LGBT Resort on Monday.
Speakers encouraged the crowd to not give in to fear and to help educate others on actions or language that may hurt the LGBT community.
Friends and strangers linked arms and headed to the water’s edge to toss flower petals into the ocean. Jaysen Giroux, a 14-year-old transgender youth, shared a poem written for the Orlando victims.
Chuck Spence, owner of Maui Sunseeker, said the community has rallied in support of its LGBT residents since the Orlando shooting.
Many at the vigil said the LGBT community finds widespread acceptance in Hawaii.