GLAAD REMEMBERS LIVES TAKEN AT CLUB Q, CONTINUES TO CALL ON LEADERS TO STOP VIOLENT ANTI-LGBTQ THREATS AND ATTACKS

GLAAD and Center on Extremism release new count of anti-LGBTQ threats and attacks in the one year since the Club Q shooting, documenting 700+ incidents against LGBTQ people; Sunday marks Transgender Day of Remembrance honoring transgender people killed in anti-trans attacks

(Thursday, November 16, 2023) GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) media advocacy organization, remembers the five lives taken in the Club Q shooting last November 19th in Colorado Springs: Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashely Paugh, Derrick Rump, and Raymond Green Vance.

GLAAD is also releasing an alarming count of anti-LGBTQ incidents of violence and threats in the one year since the Club Q shooting. GLAAD and the ADL Center on Extremism have tracked more than 700 anti-LGBTQ hate and extremism incidents in the U.S., including additional murders, harassment, assault, and vandalism.

In addition to the lives taken at Club Q, including Aston, a transgender man, and Loving, a transgender woman, at least 26 transgender people were killed in anti-trans attacks this past year. The Club Q shooting took place on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is dedicated to honoring the lives of transgender people killed in acts of anti-transgender violence in the past year. Read more about those the lives of trans people killed since Transgender Day of Remembrance in 2022 here.

In the months following the Club Q shooting, more than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in statehouses across the country, fueled by misinformation from extremist lawmakers and unchecked on social media.

Statement from Sarah Kate Ellis (she/her), President & CEO of GLAAD:
“It’s been one year, one heartbreaking year since Daniel, Kelly, Ashley, Derrick, and Raymond were killed, and more than a dozen were injured, in the unthinkable attack in Colorado Springs. When GLAAD spoke out in the hours after the devastating violence last November, we had one plea for elected, media and corporate leaders: stop the spread of anti-LGBTQ disinformation, which incites violence. What have our leaders done?

We’ve seen anti-LGBTQ lies and disinformation spewing from the mouths of politicians, served up to millions on social media, and inciting violence everywhere from elementary schools and libraries, to places of worship, to school board meetings, to places of business. We’ve seen corporate leaders cower to a fringe few extremists and hide rainbow t-shirts. We’ve seen anti-trans violence kill at least 26 transgender people. 700+ acts of anti-LGBTQ extremism. We’ve seen an unprecedented 500+ anti-LGBTQ bills. Our children are banned from mentioning their two moms at school. Our allies are shot to death for daring to hang a Pride flag. And we are killed at gas stations for daring to express joy.

By and large, the American people support the LGBTQ community, but a small group of extremists are using fear and violence to spread their lies. It’s past time for our government, media, and corporate leaders to change course and truly support LGBTQ people. I don’t want to be able to recycle this statement in November 2024. LGBTQ people and our allies need 100% support in words and action, urgently.”

In December 2022, GLAAD and Club Q survivors addressed the House Oversight Committee about anti-LGBTQ hate. Watch Sarah Kate Ellis’ testimony here.

GLAAD Coverage Guidance:

• Avoid reenactments of the violence. These are unnecessary and can re-traumatize those impacted.
• Ask people how they would like to be identified, including names, pronouns, sexual orientation and gender identity, and use them in your reporting. Avoid erasing the sexual orientation and/or gender identities of the lives taken, the survivors, and their loved ones.
• Avoid erasing the nationalities, immigrant histories, and the specificity of the communities impacted.
• Avoid speculating about the shooter’s background, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Additional best practices developed by Equality Florida for the #HonorThemWithAction campaign:

• Use the word “taken” or “killed,” not “lost” when referencing the victims.
• Do not name the shooter as suggested by No Notoriety. Focus on the victims, their friends, families, and community members.

Guidance for reporting on the transgender community, from GLAAD’s Media Reference Guide, is available here.