A makeshift memorial sprang up near the Club Q in Colorado Springs with “flowers, a stuffed animal and candles and a sign saying ‘Love over hate’ next to a rainbow-colored heart,” said Politico. The memorial was for the people shot down on November 19, 2022 in yet another horrific and heart-breaking hate crime at an LGBTQ+ club. The tragic event happened on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Five people are dead and 17 others are injured. Patrons heroically subdued the killer, preventing more deaths.
Across the country, LGBTQ+ people are fighting the growing assaults against them; it’s time for the rest of America to stand with them. Such crimes are reminiscent of the Nazis who in the 1930’s, at a time of great economic crisis in Germany, targeted various groups, branding them as the cause of society’s ills, murdering them on the street or in the camps. Enough people in Germany remained silent to allow this to go on. Driving these crimes against humanity was the need of big money interests in Germany to get control of the country.
Today, hate crimes target LGBTQ people, Blacks, Latinx, Native Americans, Women, Asians, Jews, the houseless, and more. It is a warning that we shall not ignore. Let’s all stand up against hate! Stand up for justice! Stand up for the decency America is supposed to hold dear. People’s lives, democracy and the expansion of the limited freedoms we still have are at stake.
Below are a few of the many thoughts posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/queerlivesmatter
Liz Borg hared a memory:
Flags being burned in Ogden yards. This horrendous mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Countless and senseless acts of violence and hatred toward the Queer community, on a continuous basis.
What has it accomplished?
Our existence does nothing to impede your life.
We are still here. We matter. We will continue to fight.
Laurie Black:
My heart aches for the lives lost in Colorado Springs.
Uvalde: AR-15
Buffalo: AR-15
Boulder: AR-15
Orlando: AR-15
Parkland: AR-15
Las Vegas: AR-15
Aurora, CO: AR-15
Sandy Hook: AR-15
San Bernardino: AR-15
Midland/Odessa: AR-15
Poway synagogue: AR-15
Sutherland Springs: AR-15
Tree of Life Synagogue: AR-15
Colorado Springs: AR-15
Alleria Stanley:
As the Transgender Day of Remembrance draws to a close for 2022, and with another anti-LGBTQ murderous attack earlier today, it is important to note that people do not merely go from peaceful coexistence to murder.
There is rhetoric.
There are political campaigns and ads demonizing a select group of citizens of this country for existing.
There are hundreds of anti-LGBTQ legislative bills and initiatives introduced at federal, state, and local levels.
Then there is silence. Silence which is often the loudest speech of all.
Hate need not happen to you, or to your family and friends, or to people like you for you to stand up and say, “This is wrong!”
Club Q didn’t just happen randomly.
Pulse didn’t just happen randomly.
Bullet holes in my car didn’t just happen randomly.
The people we (well, some) mourn each TDoR don’t just happen randomly.
