The demonstration was in response to an attack, one week earlier, on Brad Forkner and Christopher Rosevear, a gay male couple who had been holding hands while walking across the bridge.

The assault was condemned by Portland's mayor, Sam Adams, and its police chief, Mike Reese, and news of the attack spread throughout the Pacific Northwest and the United States.

The attack prompted volunteers from the Q Center, a nonprofit organization that supports the LGBTQ community, to form street patrols as a means of monitoring Portland's downtown area.

"[14] The Cascade AIDS Project, where Forkner was the Pivot Center Coordinator at the time, launched a Facebook campaign following the attack called "Holding Hands, In Solidarity", encouraging people to post pictures of hand-holding.

[18] Following the attack, Basic Rights Oregon (BRO), Cascade AIDS Project, Pride Northwest, the Q Center, and local churches organized a rally to link hands spanning the length of the Hawthorne Bridge to show solidarity.

[7][19][20] Stephen Cassell, event organizer and Q Center board member, reportedly "thought of the action plan in the middle of the night and quickly posted the idea on Facebook.

[27] Forkner said that this was not the first time he had feared for his safety, nor did he expect it to be the last: Thousands of people walk the streets of America and yes, even Portland, feeling like they are less than human, that their life is not as valued by society as their other, supposedly more "normal", peers.

They contribute to gang violence, to depression, to self-medicating via alcohol and drug abuse, to sexuality that people feel must be kept secret, explored in dark alleys and bathhouses rather than openly and safely.

[27]Following Forkner's speech, Basic Rights Oregon executive director Jeana Frazzini thanked the couple, spoke of the symbolism of the hand-holding rally, and encouraged supporters to volunteer for the Q Patrol.

[24] The Huffington Post contributor Chuck Currie, a United Church of Christ minister from Portland, used the attack and rally to question the impact of conservative evangelical religion and other anti-gay-rights organizations.

[29] Peter Bhatia, editor for The Oregonian, responded to the criticism and petition signed by more than 1,400 people by saying the paper's lack of coverage was a "mistake" caused by "human error".