
Rochester LGBTQ+ Together sends our deepest condolences to the victims of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs and their loved ones. With anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and violence increasing in the United States and around the world, we implore our allies and elected officials to stand firmly and publicly with the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Hate speech, gun violence and anti-LGBTQ+ violence – particularly fatal attacks against Black trans women and QTPOC – must be actively addressed and can have no place in our society. All LGBTQ+ people deserve dignity, respect, safety, and the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” as their authentic selves. We exist, have always existed, and demand no less.