LGBTQIA COMMUNITY GATHERS TO GRIEVE
Support, resources after Colorado Springs mass shooting
After a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub has some Oakland County residents evaluating their own safety measures. Some plan on attending a private gathering at Ferndale-based Affirmations LGBTQ+ Community Center set for 6 p.m. Monday.
The Associated Press reported Monday that the 22-year-old suspect in the Club Q shootings is facing murder and hate-crime charges after Saturday night’s attack.
Antonio Dave Garcia, Affirmations’ executive director, spent Sunday afternoon and evening comforting visitors and planning a Monday evening gathering, which was not open to the media. Garcia said he wanted people to be free to ask questions about personal safety and grieve without cameras in the room.
Security reviews are part of daily life, he said. Garcia fields threatening phone calls, email and letters on a weekly and sometimes daily basis.
On Monday, he presided over a gathering intended to comfort and show support for those grieving and fearing after Saturday’s shooting. Affirmations provides support to people of all ages in the LGBTQIA community, including those transitioning from one gender to another. Safety is a constant concern.
Garcia said he and employees at the center have taken FBI-level safety training and he’s planning a second round for newcomers in the near future. He said support from federal state and local law enforcement has been consistent. Ferndale Police have an LGBT officer who works with Affirmations, which is the largest center of 10 in the state.
“The police have been supportive,” he said, listing changes inside and outside the building intended to minimize any violence. Silent alarms, additional barriers and security cameras are just a few measures.
“We don’t want to create a fortress here,” he said. “We’re a community center.”
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard responded to the news of the mass shooting in Colorado by using his social media channels Sunday morning.
“There has been an increase in hate driven attacks across the country. These attacks have targeted multiple groups, including Jewish and Asian communities and others,” he wrote. “Last night, there was an attack at LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado. We stand in solidarity against these hateful acts, and if you target people in our community for any reason we will come for you.”
Other elected officials also used social media to share their reactions.
“LGBTQ people just endured another campaign cycle of hateful rhetoric, this time calling drag shows dangerous. Drag shows are not dangerous. Those who wish to inflict harm and violence at drag shows are,” Michigan Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, who is gay, wrote on Facebook, adding it would be a time to share community support “and further our resolve that hate will not win …”
On Twitter, County Executive Dave Coulter wrote, “In Qatar, currently hosting the world’s largest sporting event, being gay can get you 3 years’ imprisonment. In Colorado Springs it can get you life.”
Rochester Hills resident Brandon Johnson, 28, is a newly elected county commissioner, representing District 4. He’s a member of the LGBTQIA community and what he called the mass-shooting generation.”
“I think I speak for a lot of our generation when I say we’re tired — not over-it tired — we’re exhausted by these shootings,” he said. “Am I surprised? No, of course not.
This has happened before and will happen again, for so many reasons — none of which I think are valid enough.”
He said the US gun culture needs to change.
“As a Millenial, I’m hoping to change some of that, however I can,” he said. “It’s not just guns, we’ve perpetuated a society where hate speech and acts of hate are OK in some spaces. It pains me tremendously, but I’m not surprised.”
He said society has become a place where people are getting comfortable with the discomforting fact that mass shootings are common.
“No place is safe. No place is sacred,” he said.
He said the Club Q shootings should be a call to action, not just for people in the LGBTQIA community, but straight people as well, to have open and honest conversations with one another.
“It’s possible to have difficult conversations respectfully. Not just about our wallets, which are important, but about each other and what it means to count as a human being,” said Johnson, who holds degrees in political science and diplomacy.”
He said the rise in hate crimes has targeted more than the LGBTQIA community, citing the increase in antisemetic incidents and hate crimes against other minorities.
Another conversation people should be having, he said, is how many ways gun safety can be improved, from background checks and safe storage to red flag laws.
Productive conversations, he said, should involve respect and trust while seeking common ground.
“We can all lower the temperature on hate and on violence,” he said.
That, Johnson said, can make many places safer for all people, including schools, synagogues, and other gathering places.
Garcia said safety measures can only go so far. There are still people who protest the very existence of Affirmations. There was a time when they simply held signs and chanted ugly phrases. These days, “they have guns on their hips. Sometimes I wonder if they’re hoping someone from our community gets mad and starts swinging so they have a stand-yourground excuse,” he said.
This week and for every day of the year, Affirmations will continue offering support through activities, groups, food and other resources, as well as access to three full-time licensed mental health therapists, Garcia said. He’s evaluating what new security measures can be added to the Affirmations building, which he said is just one of 1,000 soft targets in the US, along with schools, libraries, restaurants, movie theaters and other spaces.
“But because we are a queer center and the largest in state, that does put a bigger target on our back,” he said.
He said members of the LGBTQIA community can’t live safer lives without support from the straight community. He encouraged everyone to let elected officials and faith leaders know that vitriol must stop.
“If you’re a Republican who supports the queer community, let them know there is a direct line between what you’re doing as politician or faith leader and these tragedies,” he said. “It’s no different than a bully on the playground. What makes it worse is when your friends see the bully come after you and do nothing to stop it.”
Garcia blamed hate and animus from politicians and religious leaders for tragedies like the Club Q mass shooting, adding that “when something like this happens, they condemn violence and they send thoughts and prayers, but it’s our blood on their hands.”
As for taking action on gun violence, Garcia said members of the LGBTQIA community need to rally to this cause, specifically.
“It’s a queer issue beyond the obvious person walking into a bar and shooting people,” he said. “Hate crimes are rising, but suicide is often perpetrated with guns and the rate of suicide is higher in our community. The same with domestic violence. We’re really good about fighting homophobia and transphobia, but we need to be sitting at the table to talk about reducing gun violence.”
People who need support or want to learn more about how to support the LGBTQIA community can visit goaffirmations.org.