LGBTQ community reacts to Colorado Springs shooting

LGBTQ organizations, politicians, celebrities, and regular people have flooded the internet with tributes to the dozens of people who were killed or wounded during the mass shooting at a Colorado Springs gay bar, Club Q.

As memories of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting echoed in people’s minds, reactions were particularly raw – especially since today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to honor transgender people killed simply for being themselves.

“Waking up to this is giving me flashbacks of June 12, 2016 and Pulse,” Gays Against Guns co-founder Jay Walker told LGBTQ Nation. “Our LGBTQIA2S+ communities remain scapegoats and proxies for weak-minded bigots and maladroits bent on inflicting their pain on the world. I grieve with my community siblings in Colorado Springs, especially those who see Club Q Colorado Springs as a haven, as their meeting space, as their home.”

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The group plans to rally at the Stonewall National Monument at 4pm Eastern. The group was formed in response to the Pulse shooting.

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In a public statement, LGBTQ ally President Joe Biden said, “Places that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence. Yet it happens far too often. We must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot and must not tolerate hate.”

Gay Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) called the shooting “horrific, sickening, and devastating,” adding, “Colorado stands with our LGBTQ Community and everyone impacted by this tragedy as we mourn.”

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— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) November 20, 2022

. @TheTaskForce ED Kierra Johnson "Today, on #TransgenderDayofRemembrance we are deeply saddened to hear about the tragedy at Club Q in #ColoradoSprings. Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones and we are hopeful for the quick recovery of those injured." @OneColorado

— TheTaskForce (@TheTaskForce) November 20, 2022

Sending ALL my LOVE to the #ColoradoSprings #LGBTQ community.

My heart breaks for the victims and their families and so grateful for the patron HEROES who subdued the murderer and may have saved multiple lives.

We stand with you. ❤️