Modesto vigil honors Orlando victims

About 300 people gathered in Modesto to mourn the Orlando massacre victims and to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

Sunday night’s candlelight vigil in Graceada Park came about 18 hours after the end of a siege that left 49 people dead, along with shooter Omar Mateen, in the Pulse gay nightclub.

Speakers said Mateen’s act was an extreme distortion of the Islamic faith that should be met with compassion for the victims rather than further violence.

“Each person who was shot was a beloved child of God deserving safety and dignity that was denied to them,” said pastor Jim Ross of First Congregational Church of Ripon. He noted that the shootings happened just two days after the funeral for former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, “a shining example” of the goodness of Islam.

The vigil was organized by MoPRIDE, which puts on the annual Pride in the Park celebration and is working on opening an LGBT center in Modesto.

“Tonight, my heart aches,” said Jo Sisemore, a MoPRIDE board member, adding that the shootings “will not prevent us from loving one another and will not prevent us from celebrating our community.”

Michael Eggman, the Democratic candidate in the 10th Congressional District, said news of the massacre shocked his sister, state Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman. She has been in a same-sex partnership for more than 30 years and chairs the California Legislative Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus.

Pastor Michael Schiefelbein of College Avenue Congregational Church joined in urging calm.

“What we need is to know that we can absorb it together and we can respond to it together,” he said.

This story was originally published June 13, 2016 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Modesto vigil honors Orlando victims."