‘Fix Your Hearts or Die’: Queer Defense and the Vigil for Colorado Springs
“How many times must one be bitten before biting back?” reads a part of the vigil’s altar. Pink Knight Press.
11.20.2022 | Saturday, just before midnight, a 22-year-old gunman entered the “Club Q” Trans & Queer club in Colorado Springs, CO and immediately opened fire, killing at least five people and injuring 25 others before patrons attacked and subdued the shooter (CNN). Today’s vigil holds space for mourning - and promises that those who have died and will continue to die to hateful attacks will be avenged.
It is impossible to view that shooting out of the context of national violence, legislation, and rhetoric targetting Queer people- Trans people in particular.
Two weeks ago, a Tulsa, OK donut shop was firebombed by a man in a Make America Great Again hat after the shop hosted a Drag event. From the first year crimes against people on the basis of gender identity were tracked by the FBI (2013) to the most recent data available (2020), the percentage of hate crimes committed with bias against gender identity rose by 440%. A Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism study of 37 major U.S. cities showed a 38.6% increase in total hate crimes with the ten largest metropolitan areas showing a 54% increase. The same study showed a 51.3% increase in hate crimes committed against Gay males. This comes amid a legislative onslaught, again with a specific target placed on Trans people, seeing nearly 240 anti-Queer bills introduced in the U.S. in just the first 78 days of 2022. This has been justified by the steady increase in inflammatory and discriminatory rhetoric, like decades-old homophobic ramblings about “grooming,” from almost all major right-wing figures and news outlets with millions of viewers between them.
The vigil brought more than fifty people, many of which accepted an open microphone and spoke. There was pain and sadness, yes, but more palpable was love and rage. The main discussion was that of defense and the defensive power of a community. How to look out for and defend each other, in every way. That the police didn’t stop the Colorado Springs shooter, Queer bar patrons did. That fascists see a soft target in the Trans and Queer community, and how that’s not true- and how it must be proven untrue with action.
“Fix Your Hearts or Die,” a warning to those who would seek to attack the Queer & Trans community written in chalk on the street outside the vigil. Pink Knight Press.
Sources
“FBI Releases Updated 2020 Hate Crime Statistics.” FBI, FBI, 25 Oct. 2021, https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/press-releases/fbi-releases-updated-2020-hate-crime-statistics.
“Victims.” FBI, FBI, 18 Nov. 2014, https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2013/topic-pages/victims/victims_final.
“New Report: Anti-LGBTQ+ Grooming Narrative Surged More than 400% on Social Media Following Florida's 'Don't Say Gay or Trans' Law, as Social Platforms Enabled Extremist Politicians and Their Allies to Peddle Inflamatory, Discriminatory Rhetoric.” Human Rights Campaign, https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/new-report-anti-lgbtq-grooming-narrative-surged-more-than-400-on-social-media-following-floridas-dont-say-gay-or-trans-law-as-social-platforms-enabled-extremist-politicians-and-their-allies-to-peddle-inflamatory-discriminatory-rhetoric.
Riedel, Samantha. “An Oklahoma Donut Shop Was Firebombed after Hosting a Drag Event.” Them, Them., 3 Nov. 2022, https://www.them.us/story/oklahoma-donut-shop-firebombed-drag-event.
“California State University, San Bernardino.” CSUSB, 4 Dec. 1970, https://www.csusb.edu/.
“Nearly 240 Anti-LGBTQ Bills Filed in 2022 so Far, Most of Them Targeting Trans People.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/nearly-240-anti-lgbtq-bills-filed-2022-far-targeting-trans-people-rcna20418.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/20/colorado-springs-lgbtq-clubq-shooting/
