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. Located in the shadow of the southern Rocky Mountains, the Colorado city of nearly 500,000 residents is home to five nearby military bases and the staunchly anti But as the praying carried on and the woman urged May and her friend to turn to God, she felt as if praying had turned into preying. Joshua Thurman, who was in the club at the time of the shooting, reacts on Sunday. Opinion: Colorado farms going fallow? COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) When officials unfurled a 25-foot rainbow flag in front of Colorado Springs City Hall this week, people gathered to mourn the victims of a mass shooting at a popular gay club couldnt help but reflect on how such a display of support would have been unthinkable just days earlier. Anderson Lee Aldrich in court documents, many on the Left blamed conservatives and Christians for the attack, and vandals targeted one prominent conservative Christian group in the city. In 2016 she became the first openly LGBTQ and Black person elected to Colorados General Assembly, representing part of Denver. AP writers Brittany Peterson and Jesse Bedayn in Colorado Springs contributed. "[Gay is] a word that means what other people say it meansnothing more, nothing less," the webpage said. Five In recent decades the population has almost doubled to 480,000 people. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. Leia-jhene Seals hugs R.J. Lewis during the vigil at the All Souls Unitarian Church. (KKTV) The incident comes as Colorado Springs continues to grieve the senseless loss of life at Club Q nearly one week ago. A person pauses to pay respects at a makeshift memorial in November 2022, near Club Q. 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Have an opinion about this article? All rights reserved. KRDO NewsChannel 13 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation. Update 11/28/2022, 10:23 a.m. In an article published on Focus on the Family's website in 2016, it writes that "Gender Identity Laws Place Everyone at Risk." broadcast ministry The Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family is a $100 million-a-year-operation dedicated to family and moral values. Police will often rely on legal names to identify victims or suspects. Their blood is on your hands, vandals spray-painted at the Colorado Springs headquarters of Focus on the Family. I think in a pluralistic culture now, the idea is: How do we all live without treading on each other? Daly said. "Today, they should be thankful we don't repay blood with blood," another tweeted. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here. The department also told ProPublica it would create an LGBTQ liaison program. Heres why its harmful to misgender LGBTQ victims of crime, and why its important that Colorado Springs police took steps to honor LGBTQ advocates wishes and treat the Club Q victims with sensitivity and respect. It is no accident that this happened in Colorado Springs, a city steeped in homophobia, transphobia, and white supremacy.. CLICK HERE for the GoFundMe Central Hub for donation information. Focus on the Family headquarters sign vandalized in wake of Club Q shooting. Focus on the Family is privileged to be one of many organizations in our city positioned to help and support the needs of struggling individuals and families. In 2018, after three Black trans women were fatally shot in three separate instances in Jacksonville, Florida, the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office repeatedly refused to refer to the victims by their correct names and pronouns, ProPublica reported. 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.. Residents take pride in describing Colorado Springs as a place defined by reinvention. 1 killed in northeast Colorado Springs car crash, marking the 10th traffic fatality of 2023, Serious crash along Highway 24 on the west side of Colorado Springs Tuesday afternoon, WATCH - Colorado grocery and convenience stores to sell wine, Standoff near Pueblo County elementary school ends with suspect shot, Springs restaurant holding fundraiser for fallen Fountain police officer, senseless loss of life at Club Q nearly one week ago, first court appearance by video Wednesday, Richard Fierro and Thomas James stopped him that night, in 2014 spoke out against adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to non-discrimination laws. Aldrich, who according to his attorneys identifies as non-binary, comes from a conservative Republican family. Despite the suspects identifying as nonbinary and going by Mx. The errors taught by transgender activists, and believed by many today, are likewise a result of sin and deception entering into the world. WebFocus on the Family - Visit Colorado Springs Home Focus on the Family 8605 Explorer Dr | Colorado Springs, CO | 80920 Main: (719) 531-3400 Map Website Overview Focus on the Family welcomes visitors to the ministry's Welcome Center in Colorado Springs. But that may be irrelevant in court; as the Associated Press noted, hate crime laws focus on the victims, not the perpetrators. He said the horrific event exposes the evil and wickedness inside the human heart. It's an apparent reference to the mass shooting at the gay nightclub, Club Q, where five people died Saturday night. For some, concealing ones name or gender identity may be a matter of personal safety or job security. "Their blood is on your hands five lives taken," the message read. Try the Morning Bell and get the days most important news and commentary from a team committed to the truth in formats that respect your timeand your intelligence. But many police departments have misgendered LGBTQ victims of crime, particularly trans people, in investigations or press conferences. Sam Metz, Associated Press The retired Army major was one of the men who. Law enforcement agencies have not revealed Anderson Lee Aldrichs alleged motive, but the clubs owners and LGBT+ advocates have condemned a surge of inflammatory anti-gay and anti-trans rhetoric and politicised harassment from right-wing and religious figures and Republican officials in the weeks and months that preceded the attack. Focus on the Family is privileged to be one of many organizations in our city positioned to help and support the needs of struggling individuals and families, he continued. Stephanie Vigil was just elected to represent Colorado Springs in the state legislature. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Outside the scene of a shooting at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs in 2015. In a press conference earlier this week, Vasquez said he wanted to identify the victims how they identified themselves, and how their families have loved and identified them.. Colorado Springs is a community that is full of love. Im a woman in a mans body is just one example of the effect of sin in our world. Thursday evening, the writing was covered with a trash-bag-like material, but it blew off in the wind. The SPLC used that radical Islamic terrorist attack to demonize conservative Christians. David Zalubowski / AP. 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. It is important to us that you understand why Focus on the Family must be held accountable for the ramifications of their hateful theology, the statement adds, pointing to the organisations support for legislation targeting transgender people, its falsified research and support for so-called conversation therapy. Last year, SPLC Chief of Staff Lecia Brooks insisted that the Southern Poverty Law Center is not anti-Christian at all. If so, the least it could do is condemn the vandalism directed at Focus on the Family. 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. To some in the LGBTQ community, the scene was less about solidarity and more a cause for consternation. The Jacksonville Sheriffs Office told ProPublica it was following its policy at the time, identifying victims based on medical examiner reports and the victims state ID. Copyright 2022 KKTV. Donate now. Published Jim Daly, the President of Focus on the Family, released a statement in response to the graffiti to KRDO NewsChannel 13: "We recognize the community is hurting in the aftermath of the reckless and violent actions of a very disturbed individual. An estimated 5 million Americans tune into its weekly radio program, which is broadcast by more than 2,500 stations around the world. 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.. There must be a willingness to learn about the full lives of those taken from us for the sake of respecting and honoring their lives.. We will not take violence against our community and our families lying down.. Vandals spray-painted the Focus on the Family building in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning. The incident comes as Colorado Springs continues to grieve the senseless loss of life at Club Q nearly one week ago. CNNs Alaa Elassar, Elizabeth Wolfe and Theresa Waldrop contributed to this report. People hold a vigil at a makeshift memorial near the Club Q nightclub on November 20, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Leslie Herod followed an opposite trajectory. 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. People link hands at the memorial near Club Q in Colorado Springs. The families of the five individuals killed in Saturday nights senseless attack are in our prayers. Dealing with things is mentally tough, Priester-Collins told 11 News in her first television interview since the shooting. The memorials this week attracted a wave of visitors: crowds of mourners clutching flowers, throngs of television crews and also a church group whose volunteers set up a tent and passed out cookies, coffee and water. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Union reps said the establishment of an unarmed response protocol will help with the Police Departments chronic understaffing and allow police to focus on Focus on the Family is known for its public stance against same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ issues. Discovery Company. Its opening sentence describes the shooting as coming after years of intensifying anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, acts of violence and intimidation, and discriminatory legislation from far-right individuals and groups, including powerful Republican politicians., After attacks on conservative commentators Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro, and Candace Owens; Libs of TikTok owner Chaya Raichik; Florida Gov. People visit a makeshift memorial Monday on a corner near the site of the mass shooting. Contests & Promotions, 2023, Pikes Peak Television, Inc. Colorado Springs, CO, USA, Accidente de trenes en Grecia deja al menos 36 muertos y decenas de heridos, New housing opens for 59 homeless veterans on VA land in Los Angeles 6 years after 1,200 units were promised, He shot me! fatally wounded 9-year-old in Orlando shooting cried as she ran to mother, affidavit says. 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. 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. Focus on the Family spokesperson Katie Anderson confirmed the sign was vandalized, but wouldnt comment on when the incident occurred. The Human Rights Campaign estimates that since 2013, police and media have misgendered 70% of trans people killed in violent attacks. Politics here lean more conservative than in comparable-size cities. Police told 11 News partner The Gazette that the statement was spray-painted at some point during the wee hours of Thursday morning. Wilson rounds out the article by quoting drag queens who claim there is a new atmosphere of confrontation and hostility at child-friendly performances around the state.. It goes on to claim, "Transgender-identified and gender dysphoric individuals are not necessarily more dangerous than anyone else. Joines also said that the suspect sent a photo of a rifle scope over a Pride parade to someone else over Discord. Over the summer, members of the extremist group Proud Boys interrupted a drag queen story hour, and other groups have since protested the events or forced them to be canceled. "I mean, there's a hell of a lot more than 5 deaths caused by focus on the family," one user tweeted. But last weekends shooting has raised uneasy questions about the lasting legacy of cultural conflicts that caught fire decades ago and gave Colorado Springs a reputation as a cauldron of religion-infused conservatism, where LGBTQ people didnt fit in with the most vocal community leaders idea of family values. Candidate name: Tom Strand. The SPLC article, entitled Colorado Springs: Far-Right Influencers Made LGBTQ People Into Targets and written by Jason Wilson, excludes any reference to Focus on the Familys condemnation of the shooting, but does mention the organization itself as an example of Anti-LGBTQ Hate in Colorado., Wilsons article suggests that conservative and Christian rhetoric inspired the shooting. Trash-Bag-Like material, but wouldnt comment on when the incident occurred the memorial near the at! 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