The Powerful San Francisco Pride Orlando Tribute

During the day-long events on June 26, the San Francisco Pride parade's Orlando tribute was a powerful reminder that love will always be stronger than hate.

Across the country in the Northeast, the NYC Pride's Orlando tribute was just as moving and it was the perfect way to commemorate the victims. In New York, a group of three-year-old boys sold lemonade on the sidewalk along the parade to help the Orlando victims' families; another parade attendee laid down in the middle of the road to protest gun control laws. Meanwhile in San Francisco, countless people participating in the pride parade showed their support for Orlando in different ways. Whether holding photos of the victims, writing the victims' names on their bare bodies, or setting up a lemonade stand (like in NYC) to help the victims' families, the SF Pride parade made certain to honor those affected by the Orlando shooting.

But despite their solidarity with Orlando, the dangers of an eminent threat after this attack loomed over some of the parade goers' minders. One Sacramento, California, resident spoke of this paranoia to ABC7 News: "I was actually nervous to come, my friends said it's going to be dangerous, but to me I thought it would be worth it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience."

There were even Orlando residents and families who traveled to San Francisco to attend the event and the Orlando tributes, according to ABC7 News. Similarly, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee decided to walk in the parade rather than riding in a car as to show solidarity with Orlando victims and the community.

"Our hearts are hurt by Orlando. We're going to get past this hate and we have to disarm hate, that's what we have to do," Lee told ABC7 News.

The SF Pride parade's Orlando tribute was a powerful and emotional way to honor the victims of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. As we try to move forward as a country after this attack, tributes like this and like the ones during NYC Pride remind us that when we come together as a community, love will always be stronger than hate.