It knocked me down, and I just saw that truck drive away.” “I just don’t know, but I was standing there and then all of a sudden the truck took off. “I was standing talking to Fred whatever happened, happened,” Keating said. Once Keating learned who was driving the truck, he said he knew it would never have been purposeful. When the community learned of a driver hitting multiple participants at the parade, some feared it could be a purposeful attack against the LGBTQ community. Johnson and other chorus members were unable to walk the mile-and-a-half course of the parade, so a vehicle was prepared to take them along, Keating said. It was a day the group looked forward to.īefore the start of the parade, the joy was palpable, Keating said, as the chorus interacted with members of other organizations there to participate in the parade. The day of the parade was never one that warranted fear, only excitement and empowerment, Keating said.
Keating had only ever been nervous to go once - after the massacre at Pulse in 2016. The Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus has participated in the Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade each year for the last decade.
