About 100 people gathered Sunday evening on the plaza outside Portland City Hall to express their support for LGBT rights and the 2017 Equality March on Sunday in Washington.
Pride Portland, which organized the rally, also held a moment of silence for the victims of the mass shooting one year ago Monday at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. A total of 49 people were killed in the nightclub shooting.
Michelle Patrick, who co-chairs Pride Portland, urged the crowd to keep fighting for their rights and to speak out whenever they see an injustice being committed.
“It can be exhausting to discover that we’re still here years later fighting for the same things,” Patrick said.
Another speaker, Chris O’Connor of Equality Maine, said that opponents of equality are “more emboldened and powerful than ever.”
Because of that, O’Connor said it is now more important than ever to stand up for the people in society who are most vulnerable.
“We have more work to do,” he told the crowd. “We’re not done yet.”
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