Photo by Brandon Wolf (via Montrose Memorial Garden on Facebook)

The Houston Press reports:

Last night, throngs of people bearing candles filled an empty parking lot in Montrose, just off the main gay bar drag of Pacific Street. A block or two from here, Paul Broussard was murdered in 1991. Aaron Scheerhoorn was stabbed to death outside a nearby nightclub just half a year ago.

The list of GLBT-identified victims slain in this area is long: at least 35 since 1979, according to a list compiled by the Aaron Scheerhoorn Foundation for Change. Last night, politicians, GLBT allies, and parents and friends of murdered children gathered to remember them.

Charles Armstrong, owner of four gay nightclubs in the area and controversial subject of our cover story “Mayor of Montrose,” provided a landscaped corner of his parking lot for the Montrose Remembrance Garden. There, a Texas lilac tree of the “Montrose purple” variety was planted by Scheerhoorn’s foundation in memory of all victims.

Instant Tea contributor Daniel Williams reports at his Legislative Queery blog that speakers at the dedication included Texas Sens. John Whitmire, Mario Gallegos and Rodney Ellis, and State Rep. Garnet Coleman:

All four spoke at length about the decade long fight that led Texas to pass hate crimes legislation in 2001, and about the anti-bullying and teen suicide prevention bills passed this session by the legislature. Only Garnet Coleman mentioned Texas’ hate crimes statute still excludes the transgender community (an omission he has tried to correct).

Watch video from the dedication below. To view more photos, go here.