Shooting at Colorado LGBTQ club kills 5, injures 18

Editor’s Note: This is a breaking news bulletin and will be updated with new information throughout the day.

Five people were killed and 18 injured when gunmen opened fire at an LGBTQ nightclub Saturday night in Colorado. The shooter is in police custody.

The shooter’s motives are not yet known, but the attack at Club Q in Colorado Springs is consistent with anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, legislation, harassment, and violence on the rise in the United States.

According to Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vazquez, at least two club-goers confronted an attacker armed with a long gun and at least one other firearm and managed to subdue him. I would like to express my sincere gratitude,” he said.

The casualties have not yet been announced and the condition of the 18 injured is unknown. The attacker is being treated for injuries, Lieutenant Pamela Castro of the Colorado Springs Police Department said she didn’t know what these injuries entailed.

Castro said police received a call describing the shooting at 11:57 p.m. and arrived at the scene five minutes later. FBI Offered Assistance to the Colorado Springs Police Department under investigation.

“Club Q is devastated by this senseless attack on our community,” the nightclub wrote in a Facebook post. “Our prayer [sic] And our thoughts are with all the victims, their families and friends. Thank you to our heroic customers for their quick response in subduing the gunman and ending this hate attack. ”

authorities have not viewed the attack as a hate crime. Such prosecution depends on the attacker’s motives and whether the crime was committed “on the basis of the victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability.” depends on national level. Colorado law stipulates that prejudice only needs to be part of the attacker’s motives and specifically outlines sexuality as one of the categories of hate crimes, but not gender identity. is not outlined.

Club Q’s Facebook page advertised a punk drag show and birthday party on Saturday night. drag queen del ruzinalwho performed that night described the experience on Twitter: I don’t know what to do with myself. Gunshots don’t stop. ”

The shooters carried out the attack on the eve of Trans Remembrance Day, an annual event that commemorates transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people killed in anti-trans attacks.

The attacks reflect recent incidents of anti-LGBTQ violence.

It also follows multiple attacks against LGBTQ individuals and institutions over the past few years, including a wave of attacks against queer and non-binary people near the bar Happyfun Hideaway in Brooklyn, New York in the summer of 2021. In April, a man set fire to another Bushwick gay bar, Rash.

The Colorado Springs attack echoes the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., when gunmen swearing allegiance to the Islamic State broke into a club at Latin Night, killing 49 and killing 53. went on a rampage that injured the 2016 shooting, the deadliest solo attack on LGBTQ people in US history. At the time, it was also the deadliest mass shooting in the country.

Colorado, in particular, has seen multiple mass shootings in the past 25 years, starting with the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. At the national level, lawmakers have been unable to curb the nationwide shooting epidemic, despite continued intensity and deadlines for mass shootings. Dozens of teenagers and toddlers were killed in mass shootings at schools such as Sandy His Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and most recently Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. are losing their lives.

LGBTQ rights are at stake in the current political climate

Republicans have stepped up their anti-LGBTQ policies and rhetoric in recent years, especially against trans people. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law earlier this year banning public school teachers from discussing gender identity and sexuality with students from kindergarten through her third grade. ‘ says the law.

DeSantis also approved a measure barring Medicaid patients from using the service to access gender-verifying healthcare. The law will affect her more than 9,000 transgender people in Florida who use Medicaid as their primary health insurance, according to a Human Rights Campaign statement.

In Texas, Republican legislators are pushing for policies aimed at transgender children, most notably at parents who provide their children with gender-affirming care.March, Texas Governor Greg Abbott told state health agencies that gender-affirming care is considered “child abuse,” and told teachers and health care providers to protect parents seeking such care from the Department of Family Protective Services. has issued an order obliging them to report to. This policy is against medical science.

More broadly, Republican lawmakers in several states have restricted or attempted to restrict the rights of LGBTQ people, and Democrats and LGBTQ supporters portend a potential setback at the national level. said.

To that end, the Senate, which includes 12 Republicans, voted to advance the Respect Marriage Act, which protects marriages for LGBTQ couples and repeals the Protect Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. did. The amended bill will return to the House for vote, possibly after the Thanksgiving holiday, before final approval by the Senate.