South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegBillionaire who donated to Trump in 2016 donates to Biden The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - GOP closes ranks to fill SCOTUS vacancy by November Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice MORE paid tribute to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting on the third anniversary of the Orlando attack on Wednesday.

"Pulse wasn’t an attack on just one community — it was an attack on LGBTQ Americans, Latinx Americans, and Black Americans," Buttigieg, who is openly gay, said in an email to supporters.

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"It was an attack on people who look like me, and an attack on people who look nothing like me," he continued. "It was an attack on all of us. It was an attack on individuals expressing their sexuality, their heritage, their gender, and their freedom."

Buttigieg called on Congress to pass gun control legislation and urged states to pass hate crime laws.

"Change will not just happen," he said. "It will only come as the result of struggle — political struggle, moral struggle. We need Congress to deliver on common-sense gun safety laws supported by an American majority, like universal background checks and a ban on military-style assault weapons. And we need to incentivize every state to pass a hate crimes law."

Forty-nine people were killed and more than 50 others were injured at the downtown Orlando nightclub on June 16, 2016, after Omar Mateen opened fire.