There Is Blood On So Many Hands Today

In the wake of the Colorado Springs massacre, let's give a giant fuck you to everyone who has fueled this climate of hatred.

Justice Lord gets comforted by a friend at a makeshift memorial near Club Q on November 20, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

I figured out many years ago that if I’m too upset to know where to start writing, I will eventually get there if I just begin.

So, in the wake of the mass shooting at the LGBTQ nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, which left five people dead and at least 25 others injured, I will start by saying: fuck off, every single power-hungry right-wing asshole whose fear-mongering and propaganda has fueled their constituents to further hate queer and trans people and want them dead.

(You can donate to help the victims here.)

Fuck off, Greg Abbott; fuck off, Ted Cruz. (Abbott and Cruz are Texas’ bastards, but I tend to gravitate home when naming and shaming. “Think globally, act locally.”)

Locally sourced for the top of the list: Fuck off, Colorado Reps. Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn, for constantly targeting gay and trans people with their legislation and rhetoric. And fuck off again for daring to tweet your “prayers” to the victims and their families, as if they did not directly contribute to the gun-crazed, hate-filled climate that led to these deaths themselves.

And I know, I know — investigators are still looking into the suspect’s motive, but give me a break. He targeted a place where queer people gather and perform on Saturday nights. He targeted a club that was scheduled to host an all-ages drag brunch on Sunday morning, with a performance in honor of the Transgender Day of Remembrance in the evening.

Amid the slew of Republican dog whistles against gay and lesbian teachers and LGBTQ+-inclusive books and drag queens, and so, so many in-person attacks against drag queens and clubs stemming from these accusations just this year, it is not outlandish to draw a conclusion about why five people in this particular club were killed, and not five people at a grocery store, or at the mall, or at a movie theater.

OK, back to my list.