Sara and Luke Lovejoy bow their heads during a moment of silence for the victims of the shooting in Orlando, Florida, during the Vigil of Prayer held, on Monday, June 13,2016, at First Congregational United Church of Christ, in Huntington.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — When Huntington resident Justin Murphy heard of the shooting at Pulse nightclub, a gay bar in Orlando, Florida, the first thing he thought of were his friends living in the area.
“They frequent that club,” Murphy said. “My first thought was to contact them to make sure they were OK. Then it went on, my heart just broke into pieces for all who had lost family members, all who were lost, injured and had to go through a traumatic experience in a place where they should have felt safe. There are so few places where LGBT people can feel safe and this is one of them. To be attacked in your safe haven is just horrific.”
Murphy was one of many – gay, straight, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, black, white – who came together Monday evening to the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Huntington to stand together in a sign of solidarity and to pray for peace…