Near the entrance, the bartender-in between giving hugs to friends and regulars-was running up and down the line, greeting regulars and reminding everyone of the 2-for-1 special tonight.

Inside The Monster, a gay bar around the corner from Stonewall, where the event played out on video screens, it was difficult to hear for a different reason. The occasional Orlando t-shirt slid through the crowd, a physical reminder of how close many of the assembled were, and felt, to those who were murdered less than 24 hours earlier.Īt the edges of the thousands-strong crowd, it was difficult to hear the speakers, or make out the shouts of solidarity. A man with rainbow-colored angel wings stood watching the scene unfold.