A float at the 128th Rose
Parade honored the victims of the Pulse massacre.
Forty-nine people died and dozens were
wounded when a lone gunman opened fire on June 12 in Pulse, a gay
nightclub in Orlando.
Several survivors of the massacre and
the club's owner, Barbara Poma, waved to the cheering crowd from a
float commissioned by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and Impulse
Group United during Monday's annual New Years Day parade in Pasadena,
California, The
Advocate reported.
The float, which featured a dove
soaring above two rainbows, was titled “To Honor and Remember
Orlando.” Forty-nine live doves were released twice throughout the
parade to honor the memory of those lost in the massacre.
Impulse Group Orlando President Corey
Lyons, who also rode on the float, said: “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.”
The float won the Lathrop K. Leishman
prize for “most beautiful noncommercial float.”