LGBTQ Groups React to Club Q Shooting
LGBTQ organizations offer condolences, condemn hateful rhetoric and violence directed against the LGBTQ community.
A variety of LGBTQ groups and organizations issued statements mourning the loss of life following a mass shooting at Club Q, a gay bar in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Saturday evening.
Club Q issued its own statement in response to the shooting, in which five people were killed and 25 others injured, according to CNN.
“Club Q is in shock, and in deep mourning, with the family and friends who had loved ones senselessly taken from them,” the club’s statement said. “We condemn the horrific violence that shattered an evening of celebration for all in the LGBTQ community of Colorado Springs and our allies. Club Q offers our greatest gratitude to those who moved immediately to stop the gunman and prevent more loss of life and injury. Club Q has always provided a space for LGBTQ people and our ally friends to celebrate together.
“We will always speak up for and support everyone’s right to be themselves and be safe,” Club Q continued. “We demand that those who spread disgusting rhetoric and encourage violence stop this behavior immediately before more people get hurt. We urge with everything in our heart for every person to do what they can to speak up for LGBTQ people and everyone’s right to be safe.”
Other LGBTQ organizations also expressed horror at the shooting and condemned the attack, which was reminiscent of the 2016 shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Below are a collection of some of those statements.
LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD:
“Our hearts are broken for the victims of the horrific tragedy in Colorado Springs, and their loved ones. This unspeakable attack has robbed countless people of their friends and family and an entire community’s sense of safety.
“You can draw a straight line from the false and vile rhetoric about LGBTQ people spread by extremists and amplified across social media, to the nearly 300 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced this year, to the dozens of attacks on our community like this one. That this mass shooting took place on the eve of on Transgender Day of Remembrance, when we honor the memory of the trans people killed the prior year, deepens the trauma and tragedy for all in the LGBTQ community. The media must stop spreading misinformation and elevate the truth that LGBTQ people exist, belong and want to live in peace and safety. Elected officials and corporate leaders must act immediately to prioritize this truth, and protect everyone’s safety.”
LGBTQ rights organization One Colorado:
“There are no words that will undo the horror that continues to devastate our communities. Our safe spaces continue to become places of grief, trauma, and sorrow due to gun violence, mass shootings, and the general disrespect for our human condition. Not one more life should be taken or lost. No one should feel unsafe to celebrate or live authentically in public.
“One Colorado calls on our local, state, and federal lawmakers to go beyond statements and condolences and take swift, exacting action to ensure public safety. It is imperative to protect every single person in our communities — especially our most vulnerable, on which gun violence has taken an enormous toll.”
— Nadine Bridges, executive director of One Colorado
onePULSE Foundation, a nonprofit formed in the wake of the Pulse shooting:
“Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the victims and their families, as well as the wounded and those affected by this tragedy. We are grateful to the brave patrons whose heroic actions undoubtedly saved lives and to the first responders who rushed to the scene. While details will emerge in the coming days, violence directed at members of the LGBTQIA+ community must come to an end.”
National Black Justice Coalition:
“When ignorance is weaponized to become hate, people suffer. When hate-filled people are without communities that love and support their ability to celebrate diversity, embrace democracy, and prioritize mental wellness, they cause harm — to themselves and others. People die when hateful people have access to guns and live in communities and a country that does not prioritize people over weapons of mass destruction. We’ve seen this before, and sadly, it will continue to happen until we collectively due better.”
–Dr. David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition
Lambda Legal:
“We mourn with the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado Springs for the lives taken and those wounded in this act of hate. America’s toxic mix of bigotry and absurdly easy access to firearms means that such events are all too common and LGBTQ+ people, BIPOC communities, the Jewish community and other vulnerable populations pay the price again and again for our political leadership’s failure to act. We must stand together to demand meaningful action before yet another tragedy strikes our nation.”
–Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives:
“Americans awoke this morning to horrific news: a brutal attack on an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs. Our hearts break at the senseless slaughter of least five beautiful souls and the many more injured or forever traumatized, at what was a sanctuary of safety and solidarity.
“The attack on Club Q, which fell on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, is despicable — further shattering the sense of safety of LGBTQ Americans across the country. While Democrats have taken important steps to combat gun violence this Congress, this deadly attack is a challenge to our conscience and a reminder that we must keep fighting to do more. … May it be a comfort to the loved ones of those murdered and the Colorado Springs community that all of America mourns with them during this devastating time.”
Equality PAC, the political arm of the LGBTQ Equality Congressional Caucus:
“This morning, LGBTQ Americans are waking up to another tragedy inflicted on members of our LGBTQ community. … These violent attacks are meant to intimidate and terrorize us, but we remain steadfast in our ability to come together as a community, united to speak out against this hate. We will do everything in our power to ensure these horrific incidents never become the accepted new normal in our country.”
–Co-Chairs Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.)
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