WINTER HAVEN - Holding white balloons at a midday vigil for a slain Winter Haven man, family, friends and even strangers shared hugs, tears and memories.

The crowd of about 200 in Central Park dabbed their eyes and bit back sobs as speakers took turns paying tribute to Ryan Keith Skipper's life, and addressed the need for action on behalf of the gay community.

"I can't believe I'll never get to see that beautiful smile again that you always had," said Joyce Fraley, one of Skipper's roommates. "The hole in my heart will never heal."

The Rev. Phyllis Hunt of Tampa led a moment of silence at 1:20 p.m. - Skipper's body was found at 1:20 a.m. on March 14. The gay man's killing has been classified as a hate crime.

"As people of faith we may disagree theologically, but we cannot disagree that hate is not OK," Hunt said. "We are all victims in hate crimes."

County Commissioner Jean Reed spoke briefly, encouraging attendees to come to commission meetings and make suggestions to improve community relations.

More than a dozen vigils organized by Equality Florida were held Saturday in 14 cities throughout the state and in Washington, D.C., to honor Skipper's memory and draw attention to hate crimes.

Carloads of students from the University of Florida drove from Gainesville to attend the event.

Erik Maza, 20, who is gay, went because he wanted to remind himself that violence against gay people doesn't just happen in rural Wyoming, where another young man, Matthew Shepard, was brutally murdered in 1998.

"I thought it was a good idea to educate myself to be safe," he said.

"As [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered] people, we can only protect ourselves so much in an intolerant community," said Monica Reedy, also from UF and an Auburndale native.

Two suspects, Joseph Bearden, 21, of Eloise and William Brown, 20, of Wahneta have been arrested in Skipper's death and face first-degree murder charges. Brown told a witness that Skipper, 25, had made advances toward him, and that is why he was killed, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Skipper was stabbed 20 times inside his car, then abandoned by the side of Morgan Road in Wahneta.

Damien Skipper said the lack of media coverage since his brother's murder could be because of the account first released by authorities - that on the night he was killed, his brother was cruising for sex and picked up Bearden.

He feels that reinforcing such negative stereotypes marginalized the crime.

"It's easy to sweep it under the rug," he said.

But at least locally, Patricia Mulder of Auburndale, Skipper's mother, said the community has embraced her family. Her husband, Lynn, called the event "powerful," and hoped that the spirit of it would be carried back into the places where it can change the perspectives of others.

"It starts with you at home, at work, in the voting booth," he said.

"There's a lot of good in this community, but there is also a lot of ignorance we have to fight," she said.

The vigil came on the heels of the introduction of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, also called the Matthew Shepard Act, the newest effort in an almost decade-long campaign to expand federal penalties against those convicted of hate crimes based on sexual orientation.

But the gay community still needs protection when it comes to everyday things, according to Jim Narbone of Equality Polk County.

His group is working to enact what he called "human rights legislation" that would expand the nondiscrimination guarantees in housing, adoption and employment that are conferred on the basis of race and disability.

"The best thing that can come of Ryan's memory is that it will spark something here," he said.