Gorge LGBTQ+ Community Holds Vigil for Victims of the Club Q Shooting
By Cole Goodwin
Content Warning: This article contains mentions of violence against LGBTQ+ people.
LGBTQ+ community members and allies gathered in The Dalles, OR on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2022 to hold a vigil for victims of the Club Q shooting in Colorado which occurred the night of November 19th, just minutes before Transgender Day of Remembrance began.
The candlelight vigil included a meditation, prayer, a grief and hope sharing circle and a community meal of donated soups, sandwiches, and desserts.
The event was facilitated by Cole Goodwin and Beth Slowik.
Reverend Lea Mathieu from The Dalles United Church of Christ Congregational read the names of the five victims Kelly Loving, she/her, Daniel Aston he/him, Derrick Rump he/him, Ashley Paugh (she/her),and Raymond Green Vance (he/him) who lost their lives during the shooting.
Facilitators read a prayer from local author and poet Keath Silva, who could not attend the vigil.
“To our siblings who were brutally murdered on trans day of remembrance, we pray that your transition be swift and peaceful and that you land safely in the arms of the loving ancestors. You will always be remembered.
To the families of those who were taken from you so suddenly, I pray that you are held in the warmth of community support and that you do not grieve alone.
To the Colorado Springs queer community and all of our lgbtq+ siblings, I pray that we come together and support one another through these dark times. I pray that we shine our powerful lights even brighter and stand together in our resilience and our resistance.
I pray that the world becomes a place where it is safe to be ourselves,” wrote Silva.
Attendees were then invited to share and bear witness to one another’s grieving processes. Inside the circle community members expressed a range of emotions and thoughts about the current state of LGBTQ+ rights, equality, and safety, including shock, sadness, anger, flickers of hope and the struggle to end violence against LGBTQ+ people.
“May we all pray for a better world where all beings may know love, where all beings may know peace,” said Goodwin on Thursday night. “And let us dedicate that world to those who didn’t get to see it made into a reality though the courageous and loving actions of loving people everywhere that draw a firm boundary around our right to exist as the beautiful human souls that we are.”
How You Can Help
Support
When bias-motivated violence occurs people who fit into those demographics can be greatly impacted by both the violence itself and the silence of their peers following the event. One easy way you can help ease feelings of isolation in our community is by checking in on your LGBTQ+ friends, neighbors, and family and let them know you care. This can be as simple as a phone call and lending an ear, or as generous as providing access to mental health services to someone in need.
Attend a Gathering or Vigil
Show your support for the LBGTQ+ community by attending a vigil or gathering.
Portland Q Center, Pride Northwest, MCC Portland, and other partners have organized an LGBTQIA2S+ community gathering in response to Club Q/Colorado Springs shooting on Saturday, November 26th from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Eliot Center, located at 1226 SW Salmon Street, Portland, 97205. Mental support counselors and representatives of various faith traditions will be on hand at the event.
“The attack on our LGBTQIA2S+ community in Colorado Springs is both shocking and traumatizing, even if miles away. As LGBTQIA2S+ people, our greatest strength is in community,” said event organizers. “We will come together to grieve, to share, and to find strength in each other.”
Pride Northwest, will also hold a Community rally and vigil honoring the victims and survivors of the Club Q on Saturday November 26th from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Millennium Plaza Park in Lake Oswego. A memorial has been built in Cafe Gay in VR Horizon Worlds, for remote LGBTQ+ community members.
Donate
Donate to a GoFundMe campaign to support the victims of the Club Q shooting. There are several GoFundMe’s available including a campaign organized by Greg Resha, a former employee of Club Q who has now raised over $84,000 to help pay for funeral expenses for the families of the five victims who lost their life.
Dispel Misinformation
One of the most peaceful ways to dispel negative misconceptions about the LGBTQ+ community is through education and awareness. LGBTQ+ people have existed for all of human history and scientists agree that the existence of LGBTQ+ people is as natural as nature itself, meaning there is lots of information out there to combat bias. Many education materials can be found available on the internet and at your local library.
Looking for a place to start? Learn more about the history of LGBTQ+ rights in America at LGBTQHistoryProject.org, or by reading one of the many books on the subject such as "Stonewall" by David Carter or "The Gay Metropolis" by Charles Kaiser.
How the Media Can Help
Prioritizing using chosen names and pronouns in stories about LGBTQ+ people in the media is important for the sake of accuracy and equality.
“Everyone wants to be treated with dignity and respect, especially in our most vulnerable and human moments. We can best honor the legacy of those we have lost by accurately representing who they were in life and fostering a greater understanding of our LGBTQ community,” said Kasey Suffredini, vice president of advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor Project, a suicide-prevention organization for LGBTQ youth, in a statement to The Post.
For further media suggestions check out the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s Media Reference Guide.
