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Join Us in Honoring Them With Action: Remembering the Victims of Club Q
by Carolyn Simon •
We are absolutely devastated by this weekend’s deadly shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ+ club in Colorado Springs, which took the lives of five people and injured many others.
The club was hosting a drag performance that evening and was scheduled to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance on the morning following the shooting.
Our hearts are with the families, friends and community members who are grieving their loved ones and all who are hurting.
Our community deserves to live. Our community deserves safe spaces. Our community deserves joy. That was stolen from too many of us this past weekend.
Daniel, Kelly, Derrick, Ashley and Raymond were victims of hate and gun violence. Join us in sharing their stories. In the weeks and months ahead, we will honor them with action by countering the hate that inspired this violence and continuing our fight for equality, justice and dignity for everyone.
Daniel Aston was a 28-year-old transgender man and beloved bartender at Club Q.
Family described him as “the happiest he had ever been,” and members of the community knew him for his “shining heart.”
Kelly Loving was a 40-year-old transgender woman and patron of Club Q in Colorado Springs.
Loved ones shared that she was a caring person who was “always trying to help the next person out instead of thinking of herself.”
Ashley Paugh leaves behind a husband and 11-year-old daughter.
Described as a “loving, caring person who would do anything for anybody,” she was at Club Q with a friend celebrating the weekend.
Derrick Rump, 38, was a bartender at Club Q who previously lived in Pennsylvania before finding his home in Colorado Springs.
Friends shared how he was a “loving and caring” person and helped others find community when they couldn’t elsewhere.
Raymond Green Vance, 22, visited Club Q this past weekend to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
Loved ones remember him as having “the sweetest heart” and that he “meant well to everyone.”
- Topics:
- Hate Crimes
Love conquers hate.
Image:
HATE WON'T MAKE US GREAT!
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