The Sydney Harbour Bridge was lit with the colours of the rainbow on Monday as hundreds of Australians gathered to stand in solidarity with the global gay community after the worst mass shooting in modern US history.
As Sydney's Town Hall was bathed in pink light, a crowd gathered at Taylor Square for a sombre, candlelit vigil for the 50 people shot dead at an Orlando nightclub on Sunday, and the scores left wounded.
"This could have happened anywhere," Paul Savage, one of those paying tribute, told AFP from the busy strip that hosts Sydney's annual gay pride Mardi Gras as those attending held hands and hugged.
"He could easily have walked into a bar in Sydney even though the gun laws here are much more helpful."
Savage said the level of hatred displayed by the gunman was "just incomprehensible" and described the vigil as a "show of solidarity".Earlier Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had said the shootings were not only an assault on the gay community but "an attack on all of us" as Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore tweeted "our hearts break for Orlando".
In Newtown, in Sydney's inner west, hundreds more gathered for a second impromptu vigil to call out discrimination and racism, adding that not only had the gay community been targeted but also Latinos.
"We called this action because it desperately needed to be called," organiser Rachel Evans told AFP.
"It's very important to come and say 'together we are strong'."
Organisers called on Australians not to lash out against Muslim communities, adding the focus should be on continuing the fight for gay rights.
In Melbourne, hundreds more gathered to pay their respects to those killed, while the government said buildings such as the Arts Centre would be lit in rainbow colours.
Australian rights activists said the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community had taken the attack deeply to heart.
"When you go to a venue like a gay club you expect that to be one of the places where you feel safe and supported," Chris Pycroft from the New South Wales Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
In Wellington, the city council said the New Zealand capital's main downtown concert venue, the Michael Fowler Centre, would be illuminated in rainbow colours, with a vigil nearby to remember the victims.
Vigil organisers InsideOUT said all were welcome, adding: "We intend for this to be a space free of Islamophobia, please help us keep it that way."
Prime Minister John Key said it was "a terrible and tragic day for America and the gay community".
In Bangkok around a dozen people gathered outside the US embassy, lighting candles and laying down flowers and cards. One note on rainbow coloured paper read: "Love always wins."
In Hong Kong, about 100 people held a vigil in the city's financial district.
"Homophobia affects everyone. As a community we stand together," activist William Leung of Pink Alliance, one of the vigil organisers, told AFP.
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