PHOTOS: Tucson Community Gathers to Mourn, Demand Action After Venture-N Shooting

On Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Adelita S. Grijalva, D-Ariz., took to the House floor to call out anti-LGBTQ+ violence and easy access to guns in response to the hate-motivated attack that killed two Tucson residents at a gay bar a few days before on Monday, Aug. 31.

“This type of targeted violence does not happen in a vacuum,” Grijalva said. “It is cultivated by anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, laws, policies and executive orders. And it is the direct consequence of this body’s failure to act on gun violence.”

Thousands of miles away, a similar call was being made, but in a more somber tone.

Later that evening in Tucson, more than 1,000 people gathered at Catalina Park to pay tribute to Cameron Capara, 33, and Vincent Siqueiros, 42. The park, just a few blocks from Venture-N, where the two men were gunned down, brimmed with mourners, friends, allies and people who came simply to offer support to a community grieving.

Amid calls to end gun violence and condemn the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric coming not only from the White House but also the state Capitol, friends of the two men held each other, many audibly sobbing, as family members and local elected officials spoke about the need to find hope and love.

Beyond the queer community, local politicians and clergy members attended both to mourn the deaths and call for greater protections for LGBTQ+ people.

Sam Cloud, of the Tucson Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Issues, opened the remarks.

“May we carry how they lived their lives far beyond this evening,” Cloud told the growing crowd.

Some people began climbing onto the nearby playground to get a better view of the speakers.

Siqueiros’ sister Kate Márquez and mother Susan both spoke, as did Capara’s father.

As the sun dropped toward the horizon, the crowd began lighting candles, with many people holding one another in the twilight.

Márquez delivered the evening’s most impassioned speech, bringing even some reporters to the verge of tears. She repeatedly told the crowd, “You showed up,” and prayed that her brother — who wanted so badly to be accepted and loved for who he was — was able to see the size of the crowd that night and “allowed to see that he was loved.”