This year’s Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride pre-parade show will include a tribute to the 49 people murdered during the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando last June, event organizers announced Thursday.

Two of the survivors, Brian Reagan, the manager of Pulse Nightclub, and Milan D’Marco, a dancer and entertainer at the club, will be in attendance to pay tribute to the lives lost.


 

“We are very much honored to join Long Beach Pride and the LGBTQ Long Beach community for this special tribute,” Reagan said in a statement. “As a survivor, that terrible day has forever changed me as a person. As a member of the international LGBTQ community, I know now more than ever that it is my duty to encourage love in all lives so that we all can heal together to prevent such atrocities against the human race.”

brian reaganmilan dmarco

From left to right: Brian Reagan and Milan D’Marco. Images courtesy of Long Beach Pride.

The shooting at the Orlando club was the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter and the deadliest incident against LGBT people in the United States. In addition to the 49 killed, over 50 others were injured.

Long Beach Pride’s tribute will include remarks by State Senator Ricardo Lara, Mayor Robert Garcia and Second District Councilmember Jeannine Pearce.


 

Additionally, Men Alive, an all-male gay chorus, will have a special performance to “entertain, inform, bring healing, joy, friendship and build bridges to the public at large.”

The 34th annual Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival will begin Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21 at Marina Green Park, located at 386 Shoreline Drive. The Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade will begin 10:30AM Sunday, May 21 at Ocean Boulevard and Lindero Avenue.

Stephanie Rivera is the community engagement editor. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @StephRivera88.