Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Stonewall Inn Vigil

June 13, 2016

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you so much, Eunic. I want to thank everyone – everyone who’s here. There are thousands of people in this direction, there’s thousands of people in this direction back here –

[Applause]

– all in solidarity, all in common cause. And when thousands of people come together in love, in support, it is a renunciation of hatred, it is a way of overcoming pain. So, your very act of solidarity tonight starts to move us forward. 

I want to thank the Stonewall Inn for hosting us, for once again being the place where change is made. 

[Applause]

I want to thank the Stonewall Democrats, and all the LGBT organizations that worked around the clock in the last 24 hours to make this vigil come together, and all the faith leaders and elected officials – all the leaders here today in common cause. 49 lives cut short – and we value them all, and we feel a special pain for the family of Enrique L. Rios of Brooklyn. We lost a good young man from Brooklyn.

[Applause]

A caring and loving young man who was already serving others – he was attending nursing school while working with our senior citizens as a social worker. This is the kind of good human being we lost in Orlando – someone with a life ahead of making this world a better place. We lost Enrique, and 49 others. And it was more than an attack on 49 Americans, it was an attack on American values, and it was an attack on New York values.

[Applause]

We believe in a society filled with unity and an embrace of all people. We do not accept anyone who would sow division or hatred. We do not accept the notion of any of our leaders sowing hatred and division, particularly in the wake of tragedy – and that means you, Donald Trump.

[Applause]

We feel pain and we know we will never replace those who are lost. They will never come back, but we still have so much that reminds us of what we are here to do. We have a history – a rich history, starting right here – a rich history of constant progress and constant progressive change in this city. We have the hope that comes from having righted wrongs in the past and knowing we can right more in the future. For centuries, this city ha done something that so few places in the world has done – we have been a place where you could be from anywhere, you could have any faith, you could love anyone, and this could be a place for you. And we have more work to do in this city, but we believe in something, and it marks us as a beacon to the world. We believe that inclusion, and tolerance, and love, and understanding are the way forward for this earth, and we show it every day in New York City.

[Applause]

And that is why I say to Latino New Yorkers, we stand with you and we will protect you.

[Applause]

That is why I say to LGBT New Yorkers, we stand with you and we will protect you.

[Applause]

And that is why I say to Muslim New Yorkers, we stand with you and we will protect you.

[Applause]

Because we are all New Yorkers, we are all Americans, and, yes, we are Orlando. 

[Applause]

This killer, this terrorist wanted us to stand away from our values, to move away from what we hold dear. This killer wanted to separate us from each other, to sow dissension, to make us move apart from one another. We need to in this moment move toward each other. We need to show that the answer to that hatred is greater love and inclusion. And we have an opportunity – and I say this to people all over the United States tonight – come to New York for the Pride parade. Come join us.

[Applause]

Come join us in solidarity with people all over this country. It will be safe and we will protect each other. And we will send a message to this nation and this world of what our society should look like – that’s what that parade will say to us all.

[Applause]

And, finally – finally, a message to the United States Congress – when we each take the oath of office, we are charged with protecting the safety of all those we serve. Unless our Congress passes sensible gun safety legislation, they are not living up to their oath of office. 

[Applause]

A few words in Spanish, and then I want you to hear from my dear colleagues. 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

Now, I want to introduce someone who has devoted her life to spreading love and tolerance, and to defeating the stigmas that afflict us all – our first lady, Chirlane McCray.

First Lady Chirlane McCray: Good evening, New York. Good evening, family.

[Applause]

Thank you all for standing in solidarity with Orlando. Less than a year ago, many of us marched past this very spot as loud and as proud as we’ve ever been. Gay marriage was finally legal in all 50 states.

[Applause]

Love – love had won – a resounding victory. And the movement that began in part, right here, had changed the world forever and for the better. Now that day seems very far away right now because today our thoughts are with Orlando and everyone who lost their lives at Pulse. Yet another LGBTQ haven that will enter the history books as a terrible – as a site of terrible, terrible violence.

The killer alone bears the ultimate responsibility for his heinous act. But make no mistake about it – Omar Mateen had many enablers. He was enabled by a gun industry that values profits more than people.

[Applause]

And all the lawmakers who are beholden to their blood-stained dollars.

[Applause]

He was enabled by terrorists who claim to represent a noble religion, when in fact they are nothing but hateful nihilists. And while we will never know for certain exactly what he was thinking – it is possible that Omar Mateen was enabled by a society that too often ignores mental illness until it’s far too late.

[Applause]

In honor of those we have lost, we must channel our anger at the killer and his enablers into action. We must show the gun-beholden lawmakers that they have two options – get on the right side of history or get pushed aside.

[Applause]

Their argument that easy access to guns is keeping our children and families safe has been proven false – tragically and definitively false because no one is safe unless we are all safe.

[Applause]

We must show the terrorists that every act of violence only binds us closer to our Muslim brothers and sisters who know better than anyone that true Islam is a religion of peace.

[Applause]

We must change the culture around mental health so people who are struggling can find help before their illness becomes all-consuming. We must pass the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016.

And on June 26th, when we march past Stonewall, we must again raise our voices loud and clear.

[Applause]

We must hold our friends and allies tighter and closer than ever. And we must dance with a righteous joy because this movement was founded on love. And we will not stop dancing; we will not stop demonstrating; we will not stop demanding change until everyone and every love is safe.

[Applause]

Mayor: And a man who has devoted his life to keeping us safe and is making New York City safer – our Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

Police Commissioner William Bratton: Thank you. Good evening, good evening. In this very special place, at this very special time, we come together to celebrate what we are – diverse, diversity.

As Robert Kennedy told a crowd in Indianapolis nearly 50 years ago, just hours after the assassination of Martin Luther King – what we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country.

People can be killed, but what they stand for – their values, their convictions, and their principles cannot. So, as we reflect on the lives so senselessly and violently ended, we ask ourselves where we go from here.

We remain vigilant against every threat at home and abroad, and we make the effort – as RFK pleaded – to understand each other.

And as we go into this very special month for this community, the commitment of your NYPD will be to keep you safe, to police that parade with you, to march in that parade with you, to celebrate you – to celebrate you because you are New York. You are the diversity that makes us so strong.

Thank you.