Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli says the FBI is not reporting any specific or credible threats targeting our community in the aftermath of the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Florida.
But, Scott Fearing, executive director of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, says Sunday's tragedy is a reminder that the LGBT community is still at high risk for victimization.
"We sometimes get a little complacent in that we've made a number of advancements in recent years, you know, marriage equality and things like that. But all we have to do is listen to the rhetoric from some of our political and religious leaders around the bathroom bills, for instance and so-called religious freedom bills, and that rhetoric can lead some people to take the kind of heinous action that we saw in Florida."
The Gay Alliance has scheduled an event tonight which Fearing calls part vigil, part call to action to unite the community. It starts at 7 p.m. outside the Bachelor Forum at 607 University Avenue.
He said a candle light vigil at Open Arms Metropolitan Church on East Main Street last night was about the victims and healing.
"Tonight we'll have an element of that, but there's also tonight an element also making it into more of a rally where we're going to say, 'Okay, what do we do now? How do we respond?' I want to see this as an opportunity to bring the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and friends community together."
