COEUR d'ALENE — Long-stemmed carnations of red, white, pink and yellow were placed on a table under the rainbow arch in McEuen Park.

With each flower, a different name was spoken. The names belonged to the 49 victims of the shooting in Orlando, a tragedy that moved North Idaho's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and its allies to hold a Peace and Justice Vigil to speak out Thursday night against hatred.

Numerous speakers addressed the crowd of at least 150 people, many wearing rainbow ribbons and holding signs that read "Hate-free zone" and "We are one community."

"I hurt," Ian Dennis, treasurer of the North Idaho College Young Democrats, said as he addressed the vigil attendees. "This week's been very, very painful for me, and I know I'm not the only one that hurts. This has been a horrible blow to the LGBT community and its allies. I know everyone's been affected by this."

Speakers shared emotional testimonies of the struggle the LGBT community has experienced in the fight for equality. Coeur d'Alene City Councilman Dan Gookin, who was on council when it passed its anti-discrimination ordinance, said he remembers being approached by people who questioned the need to have such an ordinance.

"I thought that was obnoxious," he said. "I think even further today, that you have actual tragic events that people are being targeted for who they love, demonstrates the need for this kind of ordinance and the fact that this is a legitimate minority who is discriminated against."

Many tears were shed during a heart-wrenching rendition of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" sung by Emmett Johnson of Coeur d'Alene. Vigil attendees put arms around each other and mourned as speakers addressed issues of violence and spoke of the many lives lost through the years as the result of hate crimes. Presenters ranged from pastors of local churches and transgender individuals to representatives of the Human Rights Education Institute, Kootenai Health and the Coeur d'Alene Police Department.

"We join together tonight to give our condolences to the family and friends of those that are lost as a result of the senseless shooting in Orlando," said Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer. "We also pray for those that were injured, we pray for their complete recovery. Unfortunately, we still live in a time where hate and bigotry raises its ugly head. But hate will never control us. We will always confront it. Hate will never win.

"We're also here tonight to show our support for our LGBT community in this time of fear," he continued. "We as a community are committed that we do not tolerate hate and bigotry. We have stood tall against hate in the past. We stand here today against hate, and we will stand again in the future against all forms of hate and bigotry."

Meg Billow of Dalton Gardens said she felt it was necessary to attend the vigil and show her support.

"It was a lot of people, lives that were very young, that were cut short. It could have been me or any of my friends," she said. "It definitely hit home and it felt like I should be here to pay my respects."

Vigil attendee Kim Baber of Coeur d'Alene said she wanted to pay her respects to the Orlando victims and every other person "not just gay people, not just straight people, but every single person in the U.S. who fears every day that they're going to get shot or someone's going to say something rude and ruin their day."

"People everywhere are getting hated and discriminated against, even if they're not gay, it doesn't matter," she said. "It's not right that us as U.S. citizens have to live in hiding and be afraid to go out without getting weird looks ... it's not right. I came here because I felt like it's something that needed to be done, for my internal being, because it gave me a little bit of closure and let me know that there are people in this community and beyond that do care."

Josh Swan, an organizer for the North Idaho Pride Alliance who helped coordinate the vigil, called for people to "step up and step out" and be proactive by knowing LGBT laws, writing letters to the editor, talking to legislators and doing whatever they can to help stop the violence and the hate.

"We all have the power to stand up and stop homophobia," he said. "Whether it's creating and leading an organization or stopping somebody when they say something homophobic or transphobic, we all have the ability to make a difference and make the United States a better place to live."