“For most of our lives, we’ve had to guard who we were, and just recently the lines have become more blurred and people have become more accepting - especially younger people. “Quite frankly, it puts fear into the community,” LaMonica said. Rocco LaMonica, manager of the Alley Bar in the Financial District, fought to control his emotions yesterday as he reflected on “just the hatred and the sheer violence” of the Orlando massacre. “I think that’s the best response that our community can have against terrorists,” Bruni said. In addition to the event in the Back Bay, Jamaica Plain held one, too.īruni said the gay community can best combat terrorism by speaking out and continuing to go about their day-to-day lives. We are in a country that allows us very openly to be very politically engaged and active,” said Sylvain Bruni, president of Boston Pride, who noted that gay people continued to show up to pride events yesterday. “We are not afraid, we are going to continue living our lives. Gays in Boston struck notes of defiance while also voicing fear for their community in the wake of an apparent jihadi’s slaughter of clubgoers in Orlando.
