Minutes before the start of Transgender Day of Remembrance, which honors the memory of people killed in acts of anti-transgender violence, a shooter sprayed gunfire inside a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five people, injuring at least 25 and heightening the fear and heartbreak felt over and over again by the LGBTQ community.
“There are no words that will undo the horror that continues to devastate our communities,” said Nadine Bridges, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy organization One Colorado. “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.”
Police officials so far have declined to answer questions about the suspect’s motives, citing the ongoing investigation. But Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told The New York Times that the shooting “has all the appearances of being a hate crime,” and representatives of Club Q described the mass shooting as a hate attack.
