Survivors of
the Pulse massacre took center stage at the 128th Rose Parade.
Victor Baez
Febo and Isaiah Henderson waved to the cheering crowd Monday at the annual New
Years Day celebration in Pasadena, Calif. They rode on a float commissioned by
the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and Impulse Group United, which honored the 49
victims and dozens of survivors of last year's shooting at the Pulse Nightclub.
Survivor Jahqui
Sevilla and Pulse's owner Barbara Poma were also on the float, according to
a press release from AHF. Other riders — who had aided in Orlando's healing
and recovery — included Patty Sheehan, an out city commissioner of the Florida
city, case worker and HIV counselor Joel Morales, and Impulse Group Orlando's
president Corey Lyons and vice president Gustavo Marrero.
The float,
titled "To Honor and Remember Orlando" and created by Fiesta Parade
Floats of Irwindale, featured a large dove as a symbol of peace; twice
throughout the march, 49 live doves were released in honor of the victims. A
rainbow served as a symbol of the LGBT community. Real-life messages of sorrow
and solidarity were also tied to a "tree of life."
Lyons said that
while the float honored the dead, it also spoke to the struggles yet to come
for the living in the fight for equality.
“We must not
lose sight of the fact that this beautiful float also serves as a solemn and
sacred reminder to millions of parade viewers around the world that the stigma
and discrimination that led to this attack are not over — the fight goes on,
and we must be vigilant in speaking out and speaking out against such bigotry,
hatred and injustice,” said Lyons.
The Rose Parade
presented by Honda, whose theme this year was "Echoes of Success,"
honored AHF with its Lathrop K. Leishman prize for "most beautiful noncommercial
float." The 5.5-mile march is usually held on January 1, yet a "never
on a Sunday" tradition postponed the festivites one day this year.
Watch the
parade here from KTLA, a local CW affiliate. The Pulse float
and dove release can be viewed at around 10:16.
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