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Dan Yates spent much of the week leading up to Denver’s PrideFest celebration crying while watching news coverage of the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

But on Sunday, as he stood in the shade and watched as thousands of members of Colorado’s聽LGBT community crowded into Civic Center聽park聽to celebrate, he was relaxed. “This is really nice to be able to all come together and celebrate life,” he said.

But the mass shooting that claimed 49 lives a week ago remained on the minds of many who attended the event.

“Despite all the progress we made, Orlando reminded us that being gay can cost you your life,” Gov. John Hickenlooper, who appeared with a number of other state and city officials, told the crowd.

Gun violence has reached a point where “almost everybody” knows a victim, Hickenlooper said. “If your elected official isn’t doing enough to keep you safe, then fire them.”

To Erica Gould, 25, who has attended PrideFest in the past, the crowd seemed less bent on partying and instead were more emotionally invested in a cause.

Nadeen Ibrahim, 21, who is a Muslim, but not gay, came to the event聽to say聽a prayer from the stage to “stand in solidarity with the LGBT community,” she said.

Muslims were devastated by news of the聽massacre carried out by Omar Mateen, 29, a Muslim who swore allegiance to the Islamic State, Ibrahim said.

“We want the LGBT community to know we stand with them.”