Vigil for Orlando nightclub shooting victims held in Pueblo

An estimated 150 people attended a vigil for Orlando shooting victims Monday night.

Organized by local LGBTQ community leaders, it was a chance for them to reflect in a similar environment, where the shooting happened roughly 2,000 miles away.

“The Pulse was a place we could go to be ourselves, with people like us,” Rep. Daneya Esgar (CO-46) said at the vigil. She attended the Pulse nightclub years ago in Orlando. She said her heart sank when she learned of the news.

“We found our friends. And we came together. And we grieved,” she said.

Two days later, that feeling of grief is still extremely strong among the crowd.

“You can’t judge people. You can’t judge people,” said Lou Mercer, whose son, sister and niece are gay. “It takes things like this to wake people up.”

Others say they feel the same devastation now, that they felt when the news broke Sunday morning.

“Great sorrow for the families and the victims,” said Ron Walters.

Esgar, Pueblo’s first openly gay state representative, said she prefers to still focus on the victims of the tragedy rather than the shooter.

“You want to be angry, but hate doesn’t win over hate. Love is the only thing that conquers hate,” she said.

Though, to her own admission, it hasn’t been easy.

On Sunday, she said she wrote a Facebook post on her professional page about her experiences, her emotions and feelings regarding the tragedy. She said while the post was shared over 100 times within half an hour, more than 70 comments in the same time were all negative, and they all urged her to resign. She removed the post, fearing it was making the situation worse.

“That hit me hard,” she said.

But she and others remain confident, they can conquer hate with love. And that their peaceful message will overcome anything else.

“There will be a time when all of this will not have to happen,” she said.