A Gunman Shot 30 People for Being Queer
At least 5 people were killed and 25 injured when someone opened fire in Colorado Springs’ only LGBTQ+ nightclub.
A 22-year-old opened fire at Colorado Springs’ only LGBTQ+ nightclub on Saturday, killing 5 people and injuring over two dozen. He was taken down by a military veteran and a drag queen, who stomped on him with his high heels. The shooter is now being held on five counts of murder and five counts of hate crimes.
As deputy district attorney Bilal Aziz told New York Times, “assuming the facts play out I think the way they’re headed, this guy is trying to not only harm people” but do so against “a protected class at a time when those groups are already feeling targeted”.
Growing anti-gay rhetoric
We should call it what it is: not only a hate crime, but an act of terrorism, designed to make the LGBTQ+ community scared to exist openly. Nor is it just a lone-wolf terrorist attack, committed by a deranged individual. it is an attack that was enabled and encouraged by an increasingly powerful network of anti-gay and anti-trans Republicans.
This attack is a direct consequence of the upswing in anti-trans and anti-gay rhetoric which has taken place over recent years. Channels such as…
