Atlantic City turns out to mourn Orlando victims

ATLANTIC CITY - Atlantic City, a city with a gay mayor and a storied gay community that has long knit itself into the traditions of its beloved seaside resort, officially mourned for Orlando on Monday evening.

It was at the edge of the sea that the city's mourning took place, at Iowa Avenue near the Tropicana, in a ritual common among surfers and others with lives so tied to the ocean: a casting off of a wreath, brought out by Mayor Don Guardian and lifeguards Vince Granese and Mac Mancuso, who rowed the mayor out in a boat that first rocked over high waves.

Guardian, who married his longtime partner, Louis Fatato, in 2014, was himself the object of some security concerns June 12, in the hours after 49 people were killed inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando. As he took part in the American Cancer Society bike-athon from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, state police suggested that he not ride at all, then stayed nearby to ensure his safety over the 66 miles, several people close to the mayor said.

Guardian said he never considered not continuing to ride. "I had no intention of not participating," he said.

"It's the face of evil, and you have to live your life," he added.

Monday evening, the group of people who read the 49 names and ages of the Orlando victims with the ocean as their backdrop showed how deeply the gay community has been a part of Atlantic City, a diverse tourist city not unlike Orlando in some ways.

There was the mayor himself, and John Schulz, the former city councilman who officiated at Guardian and Fatato's marriage, and Schultz's partner Gary Hill.

There was Mortimer Spreng, a former drag queen performer and a onetime winner of the Miss'd America Pageant, the parody of the Miss America Pageant that used to be staged at Studio Six, a gay bar, and has since gone mainstream to Boardwalk Hall and, last year, Borgata Hotel & Casino.

It was the gay community, from a balcony on New York Avenue, that began the "Show Us Your Shoes!" tradition during the Miss America parade.

There was Rich Helfant, president of the Greater Atlantic City GLBT Alliance and executive director of Lucy the Elephant in Margate. There was a gay pastor, the Rev. Blake Spencer of Ocean Heights Presbyterian Church in Egg Harbor Township, and a Catholic priest, the Rev. John Thomas of St. Monica's Parish, who said, "Where there is intolerance, we can sow inclusion ... and also acceptance."

There were representatives of two casinos, Tropicana and Borgata, referred to by Helfant as "our straight allies in our community who have rolled out the welcome mat for our community in a most extraordinary way."

In the crowd of several hundred, there were casino workers who wore shirts that read "Unite Here" on the back, for the casino union, and "Love Has No Borders" on the front. There were people who had just come to sit by the ocean, and who stuck rainbow flags into the arms of their beach chairs.

Before the ceremony, Spreng said the horror in Orlando resonated in many ways.

"It was scary because I've always worked in nightclubs," said Spreng, who appeared on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.

"It hit on so many levels," he said. "A drag performer was killed, and I was a drag performer. One of the bar staff was killed. I am Orlando. We are Orlando. There's a renewed sense of camaraderie."

Spreng recalled a time when the front doors of Studio Six, the famous gay bar on New York Avenue, were shot up. Nobody was injured because patrons never used those doors, he said. "You have to be on guard even in your safe space," he said.

Studio Six closed several years ago, and there is really only one exclusively gay bar left in Atlantic City, the Rainbow Room on South Bellevue Avenue. But Spreng and others said the city, and its casinos, are welcoming to the gay community, which is well-integrated into the general nightlife of Atlantic City. "I've danced with my guy friends and never had a problem," he said.

Helfant noted the cooperation of casinos, police, and the beach patrol, and said to the crowd on the beach, "I stand here today as a proud gay man.

"Still, today, people are scared to hold hands with the people that they love," he said.

Ed Foresta, 29, a Realtor from Ventnor, said that while he could see Atlantic City being a "plausible target," he was not scared. "If something happens, it happens. I believe in the right to bear arms. We just need to be processing people properly."

Marie Lopez, a former dealer in Atlantic City with two gay children, said the shooting, which happened on the Orlando club's Latin Night, hit home for her.

"There was a Puerto Rican queen performing," said Lopez, who is part Puerto Rican and part Colombian. "It was a night everyone was out celebrating."

Her daughter Margaret Navarro, 31, a gay Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, stood at the edge of the ocean as the wreath cast by the mayor floated in the surf back to shore. The heart-shape, rainbow-hued wreath read, simply, "Orlando." Navarro pushed it back out to sea.

arosenberg@phillynews.com 609-823-0453 @amysrosenberg www.philly.com/downashore