Posted: Mon, 13 Jun 2016 04:36 PM - 21,619 Readers

By: KXAN

Hundreds of people showed up to Austin’s LGBTQ community-led candlelight vigil Sunday evening in support of the lives lost and injured in the Orlando shooting.

The vigil started at 7:30 p.m. on Fourth Street in downtown Austin’s warehouse district. To make sure the event was safe for everyone, the Austin Police Department shut down traffic on Fourth Street at Colorado Street.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler along with individuals in Austin’s LGBTQ community spoke about how today is “about love and all humans.”

“Let’s choose unity over division. Let’s choose confidence over fear. Let’s choose lightness over darkness. And let’s choose love over hate,” said Mayor Adler.

In the middle of the vigil, a small group of protesters showed up carrying signs about Jesus. The vigil had a momentary setback but got right back on track once the emcee told everyone to ignore the protesters. Near the end of the vigil, addressing the protesters, the crowd chanted, “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it.”

Asst. Chief Frank Dixon from the Austin Police Department told the crowd, “When we can come together like this and show this amount of love and support for one another collectively imagine what we could do if we do this on a daily basis.”

John Egan, a spokesperson for Austin’s Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, says the deadly shooting “has struck fear and sadness in the LGBT community, particularly since the tragedy happened during LGBT Pride Month.”

Austin PRIDE is also calling on the central Texas community to donate to a fundraising page set up for the Orlando victims.

*  Story Contributed by: KXAN