The day after a gunman opened fire inside Club Q in Colorado Springs, killing five people and physically injuring at least 18 (to say nothing of the countless moral injuries incurred), Carolyn Pinta gathered with friends to write cards to strangers.
Pinta had already planned the card-writing event before the shooting. It was a way of marking Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual event that began in 1999 to commemorate transgender people lost to violence and to raise awareness about threats against people who are gender-variant.
Pinta is one of the forces behind the Pinta Pride Project, an organization that raises awareness and support in suburban communities for LGBTQ+ people. Pinta Pride Project was born in 2019 when Molly Pinta, Carolyn’s daughter, launched a Pride Parade in Buffalo Grove, Illinois — a first (and now annual event) for the Chicago suburb.
