Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs, Colorado, headquarters was vandalized on Thanksgiving with a message blaming the group for a recent mass But I will also acknowledge that I chose to leave the Springs because I felt like when it came to the elected leadership, the vocal leadership in this community, it wasnt supportive of all people, wasnt supportive of Black people, wasnt supportive of immigrants, not supportive of LGBTQ people, Herod said at a memorial event downtown. Below you will find contact information and answers to a candidate questionnaire from The Gazette. @Tyler2ONeil "We recognize the community is hurting in the aftermath of the reckless and violent actions of a very disturbed individual. Ron DeSantis championed and later signed a bill this year that earned the nickname Dont Say Gay, because it banned some public school teachers from discussing sexuality or gender identity with elementary school students. In one of the organization's PDF handouts, Focus on the Family writes: "The Bible also teaches that sin has entered the world and affects every area of life. Priester-Collins still has a long road to a full recovery but says if something positive came out of this horrible event it is that she is closer with her family than ever before. Seals hugs Carter Rodriguez outside the All Souls Unitarian Church. ", The article is written by Jeff Johnston. Law enforcement says a gunman went into the establishment late on the night of Nov. 19 and opened fire, killing five and injuring 18 before he was taken down by a couple of patrons. Newsweek has reached out to the Colorado Springs Police Department for comment. Willis Scott is an evening anchor for KRDO. Immediately following the shooting, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly told 11 News sister station CBS Denver that he mourned the tragedy and that the organization wanted to make it clear it stands against hate. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here. It is unclear if anyone has died as a result of the shooting or if there are more victims involved. Yemi Mobolade, an entrepreneur running for mayor as an independent, didnt understand how strong Colorado Springs stigma as a hate city was until he moved here 12 years ago. 4 min read. Over the last several decades, Focus on the Family which is based in Colorado Springs has developed into a nationally recognised, well-financed and influential conservative Christian ministry that has lobbied against LGBT+ rights and characterised LGBT+ identities as a particularly evil lie of Satan.. This community, just like any other community in the country, is complex, she said. The SPLC used that radical Islamic terrorist attack to demonize conservative Christians. Still, he noted signs that the city was more culturally conservative than others of similar size and much of Colorado: Colorado Springs is kind of an outlier, he said. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. Many right-wing extremist groups have narrowed their focus on drag performers who read books to children at local libraries or other venues. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. A security guard in the lobby prevented the attack, and although the SPLC condemned the assault, it has kept the Family Research Council on its hate map ever since. Earlier this month, a gunman opened fire at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing five and injuring 25 others. Candidate name: Tom Strand. We will not take violence against our community and our families lying down.. Herod and others who have been around long enough are remembering this week how in the 1990s, at the height of the religious rights influence, the Colorado Springs-based group Colorado for Family Values spearheaded a statewide push to pass Amendment 2 and make it illegal for communities to pass ordinances protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination. My book Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center traces how the SPLCoriginally a public-interest legal nonprofit representing poor people in the Southbecame a juggernaut of political fundraising, in part by suing white supremacist organizations into bankruptcy and then using that work to exaggerate the threat of hate groups and to scare donors into ponying up cash. broadcast ministry It goes on to claim, "Transgender-identified and gender dysphoric individuals are not necessarily more dangerous than anyone else. Juan Chavez, left, hugs Jennifer Horn as they join other Club Q supporters outside the Colorado Springs City Hall on Wednesday. The amendment passed, and Colorado earned the nickname the hate state, according to the Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum. The SPLC has long branded mainstream conservative and Christian organizations as hate groups, placing them on a list with the likes of the Ku Klux Klan. Club Q mass shooting survivor speaks out on her recovery for the first time. Tyler O'Neil Dealing with things is mentally tough, Priester-Collins told 11 News in her first television interview since the shooting. The shooting at Club Q occurred at a time when anti-LGBTQ sentiment continues to flare across the US. It was a safe space for the LGBTQ community of Colorado Springs, Club Q was Colorado Springs only remaining gay bar at the time of Flanerys piece. A police officer lifts barricade tape as authorities respond to the scene of the mass shooting. 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. Focus on the Family has previously advocated for anti-LGBTQ messaging. "We'd encourage you not to allow yourself to get locked into that category. Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs, Colorado, headquarters was vandalized on Thanksgiving with a message blaming the group for a recent mass shooting that killed five people and injured 18 others. (Icons, a downtown bar with singing staff, opened a year later in 2021.). Club Q owner says Colorado Much of the legislation aimed to limit trans youths access to gender-affirming health care or banned participation in school sports that aligned with their gender. Referring to a trans person by a name they no longer use is often known as deadnaming. A man was sentenced in 2020 for the murder of one woman, but the other two deaths have not been solved. We recognize the community is hurting in the aftermath of the reckless and violent actions of a very disturbed individual, said Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, in a Friday statement. Colorado Springs voted 3 to 1 in favor of Amendment 2, helping make its narrow statewide victory possible. For others, the shocking act of violence in a space considered an LGBTQ refuge shattered a sense of optimism pervading everywhere from the citys revitalized downtown to the sprawling subdivisions on its outskirts. Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. In his first court appearance by video Wednesday, suspect Anderson Lee Aldritch still wore many of the cuts and bruises police say he received when Richard Fierro and Thomas James stopped him that night. Introducing the victims as they lived was a way to represent them with compassion and dignity, Castro told CNN. The median age is 35. Colorado Springs Club Q survivor shot in the face shares her story. Have an opinion about this article? But even departments in cities with sizable LGBTQ populations, such as the Orange County Sheriffs Department in central Florida, can be careless in their interactions with LGBTQ victims and witnesses: In 2018, when investigating the death of Sasha Garden, a Black trans woman, the sheriffs office misgendered her and used descriptions that LGBTQ advocates said were damaging, the Orlando Sentinel reported. A suspect, who was reportedly tackled by club patrons before police arrived, remains jailed without bond. Regardless of motive, I condemn the demonic violence ruling inside the heart of the shooter in the Colorado Springs nightclub, Klingenschmitt wrote on Facebook on Nov. 20. Focus on the Family President Jim Daly condemned the shooting on the day it occurred. However, these laws and policies allow dangerous individuals open admission to public accommodations. For some, merely seeing police being careful to refer to the victims using their correct pronouns this week signaled a seismic change. Joshua Thurman, who was in the club at the time of the shooting, reacts on Sunday. The Orange County Sheriffs Department did not immediately respond to CNNs request for comment on their handling of Gardens case. She testified that she believes the suspect modeled the Club Q shooting after the shootings they posted on their neo-Nazi website. We recognize the community is hurting in the aftermath of the reckless and violent actions of a very disturbed individual. All Rights Reserved. Learn more about Willis here. The names of the Club Q shooting victims are displayed as mourners hold a candlelight vigil outside the State Capitol building on November 23, 2022, in Denver, Colorado. Sophia Diana, left, holds her friend Lex Chapman's hand during the vigil at the All Souls Unitarian Church. Stephanie Vigil was just elected to represent Colorado Springs in the state legislature. We urge everyone to pray for peace and we also pray for the individual or group responsible for this mischievous and unwarranted defacing of our ministrys property.. Much like in the 1990s, Focus on the Family and New Life Church remain prominent in town. We must condemn in the strongest terms possible the taking of innocent life., After the vandalism, Daly said the shootings aftermath should be a time of prayer, grieving and healing, not vandalism and the spreading of hate., The families of the five individuals killed in Saturday nights senseless attack are in our prayers, Daly added in a public statement. But in the face of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and hostility, many Colorado Springs residents established LGBTQ funds and advocacy groups, Colorado Springs Indy columnist Brandon Flanery wrote in 2020. November 29, 2022, Vandals targeted Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs headquarters two days after the Southern Poverty Law Center mentioned the Christian organization in an article tying the Club Q shooting to "anti-LGBTQ hate." In 2019, Brandon Ragan, one of the departments LGBTQ liaisons, told WMFE, Orlandos public radio station, that the department had made mistakes in its investigation into Gardens death and would learn from them going forward. appreciated. The organization's website has numerous "resources" for sexuality. This can make it difficult to discern whether police and media are using the right terms to describe them. Wilson does not mention that Gordon Klingenschmitt, who runs the Pray in Jesus Name Project, condemned the shooting. "Needs fire.". The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. The people who lost their lives that night include: CLICK HERE to donate to a verified fundraiser page to help all the victims impacted. Joines also said that the suspect sent a photo of a rifle scope over a Pride parade to someone else over Discord. Their blood is on your hands and five lives taken were spray-painted onto the sign following Saturday nights mass shooting in Colorado Springs at Club Q. "I mean, there's a hell of a lot more than 5 deaths caused by focus on the family," one user tweeted. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Phylisha Priester-Collins, her daughter and a friend were inside Club Q when gunfire interrupted their lives and changed their perspectives, forever. CNNs Alaa Elassar, Elizabeth Wolfe and Theresa Waldrop contributed to this report. Their blood is on your hands and five lives taken were spray-painted onto the signfollowing Saturday nights mass shooting in Colorado Springs at Club Q. Campaign phone number: 719-210-1607. Read the full story on the Denver Channels website. A rainbow flag is draped over the Colorado Springs City Hall on Wednesday, November 23, in honor of the victims of Club Q mass shooting. On Wednesday, defense attorneys brought up the suspect's gender identity and sexuality, saying that they told James, "My mom will not accept me because I'm gay, you're all the same.". The Human Rights Campaign reports that the organisation and its leaders continue to promote many dangerous ideas, practices and programs that cause real harm to LGBT+ people and their families. Florida Gov. It was more welcoming than the rural part of Florida where he grew up. People pay their respects at a memorial display set up to remember the five victims of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Will that affect potential hate crime charges? The accused, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, was also injured and taken to a local hospital. Focus on the Family headquarters sign vandalized in wake of Club Q shooting. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Contact Paige Skinner at paige.skinner@buzzfeed.com. Following the incident, someone tried to conceal the graffiti with a tarp and cardboard, but as of Friday the tarp had fallen off, leaving much of the wording visible. "We urge everyone to pray for peace and we also pray for the individual or group responsible for this mischievous and unwarranted defacing of our ministry's property.". The "Sacred Cloth" Pride Flag is displayed following a ceremony at City Hall after a mass shooting at LGBTQ nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A mass shooting at a popular gay club in Colorado Springs has resurfaced questions about the citys past and future among its residents. These [five] individuals gathered at Club Q with friends and loved ones, new and old, to be in community and to grieve all the lives lost to transphobia, the statement adds, calling the mass shooting an act of hate. The shooting happened just after 7 p.m. at the Alta Convenience Store near the intersection of Palmer Park Boulevard and Potter Drive. She said she found community at Club Q when she would come back from college, but that sense of belonging didnt allow her to forget that people and groups with a history of anti-LGBTQ stances and rhetoric maintained influence in city politics. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Phylisha Priester-Collins, her daughter and a friend were inside Club Q when gunfire interrupted their lives and changed their perspectives, forever. apprehended by club patrons Richard Fierro and Thomas James, comes from a conservative Republican family, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. AP writers Brittany Peterson and Jesse Bedayn in Colorado Springs contributed. In the 1940s, military bases arrived. Dozens of people were inside Club Q that night for a drag show; when the shooting broke out, Richard Fierro and Thomas James, two club patrons, confronted the suspect and beat them, which authorities have said prevented even more people from being killed. Focus on the Family is known for its public stance against same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ issues. A person pauses to pay respects at a makeshift memorial in November 2022, near Club Q. Someone spray-painted the sign in front of the Colorado Springs-based Christian organization. Not for the "stupid price" of $150 an acre foot. Brandon Wolf, Equality Florida press secretary and a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting, said the killings at Club Q were the result of years of hateful rhetoric toward LGBTQ people. Outside the scene of a shooting at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs in 2015. Michael Robert Travis performs taps while his husband, Michael Travis, films on his phone near Club Q on Sunday. The Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family is a proponent of family and moral values. Under the resources for homosexuality and sexual identity, there are video links, book recommendations, and more for parents and people looking for a "Christian" perspective. WATCH: Why far-right groups are increasingly targeting the LGBTQ community. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Phylisha Priester-Collins, her daughter and a friend were inside Club Q when gunfire interrupted their lives and Priester-Collins is sharing her story only now as the suspected shooters preliminary trial begins because she says shes worried this community is forgetting them with such a focus on the suspected shooter. The suspect was apprehended by club patrons Richard Fierro and Thomas James as well as an unnamed trans woman, and later arrested by police. The Family Research Institutewhich reported only $50,000 in revenue in 2021appears not to have addressed the shooting. 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