Media Contact:
Suzanne Morse
Ph: (508) 259-9354
Email: smorse@uua.org

Boston, Mass. (November 21, 2022) - On Saturday, November 19th, a man shot and killed 5 people inside Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a nightclub that serves the LGBTQIA+ community in that city. 25 people were also injured. The attack only ended because patrons bravely confronted him. Below is a statement from Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), regarding this event and violence directed towards the LGTBQIA+ community:

This is absolutely devastating news from Colorado Springs. I am sending love and care to all the staff and community of Club Q, and to all of those present, all of the victims and their loved ones. This is infuriating and heartbreaking – especially as it occurred on Transgender Day of Remembrance.

So many woke up yesterday, with our hearts already marking Transgender Day of Remembrance, remembering the lives of our transgender and nonbinary siblings taken from us too soon through violence, only to learn the news of the mass shooting at Club Q. I know this act of violence impacts so many personally.

Acts of violence against trans people and LGBTQIA+ people are not unrelated to the policy and rhetorical violence that leaders use to target LGBTQIA+ people every day across this country. Policy violence like the anti-trans laws in Alabama, Texas and Ohio incites interpersonal and public acts of violence. This must end.

Our LGBTQIA+ siblings are sacred, whole, and divine. The full expression of the diversity of gender and sexuality is a gift. We share a collective responsibility to build a world that affirms the inherent worth and dignity of all. We can do better. We must do better.

I send my love and care to everyone in our communities impacted by this incident, by violence towards the LGBTQIA+ community, and by attempts to intimidate trans and non-binary individuals. I pray that our LGBQIA+ siblings, neighbors, and loved ones may feel the love, and fierce and tender care, of community, colleagues, and families.

Spirit of Life, Spirit of Love and Justice – plant in our hearts the deep knowledge of the beauty of every life, of each of our lives and every life as precious and whole and needed. May we find ways to lean more deeply into practices that nurture wholeness and belonging in all of our communities and in our world.

About the UUA

The UUA is the central organization for the Unitarian Universalist (UU) religious movement in the United States. Our faith is diverse and inclusive and the UUA’s 1000+ member congregations are committed to Seven Principles that hold closely the worth and dignity of each person as sacred, the need for justice and compassion, the right to choose one’s own beliefs, and respect for the interdependent nature of all existence.