LGBTQ leaders confront Colorado Springs shooting, other hateful attacks – MassLive.com
In the days after the Colorado Springs shooting that left five people dead and 18 injured at a queer nightclub, Massachusetts’ LGBTQ groups are continuing their fight in making sure members of their community are safe.
“Every day our youth see, hear, and feel the burden of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in the media, in their homes, and their communities.” The Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth said. The group is an independent agency that recommends LGBTQ-inclusive policies to the state’s government. “The connections between the shooting at Club Q and the vitriolic messages that bombard LGBTQ youth every day are unmistakable.”
The commission says medical bans on gender-affirming care, banning LGBT-theme books in school, attacks on queer people and threats against healthcare providers and teachers supportive of LGBTQ rights have never been greater.
Although anti-gay hate crimes dipped from 1,393 in 2019 to 1,287 in 2020, according to a federal report, crimes based on gender identity rose by almost 20%.
“[Massachusetts] is not exempt from the anti-LGBTQ violence that is sweeping the nation, & there is so much more work to be done to ensure that every single youth in the state feels empowered to live their lives free of violence, grief, and harm from racist, homophobic and transphobic entities,” the commission said.
Ellyn Ruthstrom, executive director at SpeakOUT, shares the same sentiment. As the leader of SpeakOUT, an organization that trains members of the queer community to publicly share personal stories, Ruthstrom said attacks toward the LGBT community make them feel “vulnerable.”
“We recognize that even in a state like Massachusetts where we have a great deal of LGBTQ protections, that we are not completely safe from the violence and harassment that is being directed at our community,” Ruthstrom said. “We know that we do have protections and we know that people will stand up for us in Massachusetts, but there are things they can’t protect us from.”
Over the summer, a Boston housing development project for LGBTQ+ seniors was vandalized with anti-gay slurs.
Oftentimes, SpeakOUT will do public engagements inside protected environments like schools, organizations and businesses. However, at public-facing events where there isn’t the same level of protection, the fear of anti-LGBT protesters or harassment from the public looms over organizer’s heads, Ruthstrom said. That is why during public events, SpeakOUT’s organizers assure there are police officers present.
Members of Out Now, a queer youth group in Springfield, are angered and saddened by the recent attack on the LGBTQ community, according to Holly Richardson, director of the organization.
“At Out Now we will continue to not only exist, but to thrive, as we, together, will fight with all we have for our queer community (and all other oppressed groups) here at home, across the country and around the globe,” Richardson said in a statement.
The group also said they were concerned with the ease of access to firearms and the number of firearms per number of people in the country.
In the U.S., over 98% of the country’s 400 million firearms are owned by civilians, which is equal to 120 firearms per 100 people, according to Small Arms Survey, a Geneva-based organization.
“This country has always been and continues to be a violent place; and notably, nearly all mass shootings are being committed by cis, white, young men,” Richardson said. “While BIPOC people have carried the brunt of white supremacy violence, any who live within a ‘minority’ status are at risk of being a target.”
- Read More: Colorado Springs shooting: LGBTQ nightclub shooting suspect faces murder, hate crime charges
Nearly half of all mass shootings in the U.S. are committed by white men, according to Violence Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center that has been tracking mass shooting data since 1996.
“Finally, we are all forced to listen to legislators who continue to incite violence as they dangerously talk about LGBTQIA+ communities as though we are a threat to them; when in fact, it is just the opposite,” Richardson said.
The Colorado Springs shooting follows another similar mass shooting that happened at a queer nightclub several years ago.
In 2016, an American-born man gunned down 49 people and injured 53 at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando. The shooting was among the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Two of the Pulse victims had ties with Western Massachusetts — Stanley Almodovar III of Springfield and Kimberly “KJ” Morris, who formerly lived in Northampton and Holyoke. Morris was working as a bouncer at the nightclub when the mass shooting occurred. She had moved to Orlando from Hawaii to be closer to her family. A mural was dedicated to the young woman on Main Street in Northampton.
The Colorado Springs shooting occurred right on the eve of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. In response to the shooting, TransResistanceMA, a transgender rights organization in Boston, shifted its in-person event dedicated to the day of remembrance online.
“One of the things that we had to really consider is could there be protests or violence for us wanting to hold trans day of remembrance in-person and what could that feel like?” Julia R. Golden, Interim President of TransResistanceMA said. “It’s a heavy and emotional event that we throw because it’s important that we continue to talk about violence and trans groups and individuals.”
Often times after homophobic or transphobic attacks happen, there is lots of talk about resiliency, Golden said. However, to Golden resiliency is just a form of survival.
“We need to mourn and grieve for those first, but then we need to look around us and say ‘what policies and laws are going to put in place to protect our group?’ Resiliency is not a plan, policies and laws are plans.”
Issues such as housing, job insecurity and hunger are some of the most prominent problems facing the transgender community in Boston, according to Golden. As for now, TransresistanceMA will be hosting two online town halls and will be announcing a $10,000 campaign next week called the trans community program. The program will center on supporting transgender and gender-diverse people.
Schools are also showing their support for the LGBTQ community. On Nov. 22, Lexington High School expressed its condolences over the Colorado Springs mass shooting.
“As we confront the news of another senseless, violent attack on people with LGBTQ identities, we send our love and support to LGBTQ students, staff, and families in Lexington and everywhere,” Julie L. Hackett, the town’s superintendent of schools said.
The school also warned that these types of hate-filled incidents start “close to home.” According to an email from the high school’s counselor, back in October, several Lexington High Schools students were told by adults during their town event that, “LGBTQ people were pedophiles and groomers, and that they were lucky to live somewhere they wouldn’t be stoned.”
According to the school, several people intervened in the situation to protect the students.
“My heart goes out to all who are affected by this senseless act of violence. We stand in solidarity with all LGBTQ students, staff, and families and their loved ones. We see you, we support you, and we are here for you, and there is no place in our community for hate,” Lexington High School said.
Maura Healey, Massachusetts’ Governor-elect, expressed her condolences as well. On Twitter, she wrote:
“My thoughts are with Colorado Springs, Club Q, and everyone affected by this senseless act of gun violence,” she said. “Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has brought us here before. This country needs to take a hard look at where hatred and gun violence intersect — this can’t happen again.”
Healey, a Democrat, will be the commonwealth’s first female governor and first openly-gay governor. Healey in the past has shown her support for the LGBTQ community. On Oct. 12, she joined a coalition to support efforts in bringing gender-affirmative care to the state’s transgender community.
There have been several instances of hate crimes against transgender Americans in Massachusetts in recent months. The transphobic hate crimes have prompted several lawmakers including Democratic state representatives, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Jim McGovern to ask the Department of Justice to probe into transphobic hate crimes.
“We urge you to outline the steps the Department is taking to counter anti-transgender threats of violence occurring online and in person and to provide further guidance to health care providers on how to protect their staff and patients from such threats,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter penned to the DOJ on Nov. 18.
The letter follows several instances of bomb threats made toward Boston Children’s from providing gender-affirming health services.
“Transgender youth and adults, like all of us, need and deserve access to medically appropriate, life-saving care to support their health and well-being., Kurtlan Massarsky, Executive Director of BAGLY,” said in a statement. BAGLY is an LGBT group based in Boston. “Boston Children’s Hospital is a nationally known model for best practices in gender-affirming care, and BAGLY strongly condemns these attacks that threaten some of the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community. We must all stand up to hate wherever it arises, and so we call on all of our communities to come together as allies against those who seek to harm us.”