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Straight allies standing up for LGBT community in Orlando
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/06/21/straight-allies-standing-up-lgbt-community-orlando/86147076/Chris Nault hopes the candlelight vigil that took place in Lake Eola Park on Sunday night does not become a one-time showing of solidarity with the people of Orlando and the city's LGBT community.
While 50,000 people assembled to remember the victims and families of the Orlando shooting, Nault says that being a straight ally of the LGBT community may not always be a deliberate act for many. “This doesn’t have to be a one-day thing of everyone coming together,” Nault said.
Nault, along with organizers Kermit Silva and Chelsea Frost, who had the idea for the vigil, hoped to show support for Orlando as a whole. They were not initially thinking of the vigil as a way to bring together a straight alliance. A straight ally, as defined by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is someone who is supportive and accepts an LGBT person or someone who personally advocates for equal rights and fair treatment.
“Spreading a message of unity and love was the goal,” Nault said of the event's original purpose.
