UK

LGB Alliance condemned for shameful, exclusionary response to Colorado Springs shooting

Kara and CF Too and her children place flowers at the police tape for a growing memorial related to the shooting inside Club Q.

Kara and CF Too and her children place flowers at the police tape for a growing memorial related to the shooting inside Club Q. (Matthew Staver/Washington Post/Getty)

The LGB Alliance has been condemned for excluding trans people in its response to the Colorado Springs shooting.

Five people were killed and 25 injured when a gunman opened fire in Club Q, a queer venue in Colorado Springs, on Saturday (19 November).

Of the two victims named at the time, one of them, Daniel Davis Aston, was trans. Since the tweets were published, a trans woman shot dead in the attack, Kelly Loving, has also been named.

Despite this, the LGB Alliance saw fit to share a message of solidarity with just lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

“We are horrified by the news of the mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, and stand in solidarity with LGB people worldwide against this senseless hatred,” the organisation tweeted.

“Our thoughts are with the victims, and all who knew and loved them.”

Many were quick to condemn the LGB Alliance for its tweet.

LGBWithTheT, a campaign group run by Trans Radio UK, tweeted: “A trans man died there as well. Why do you stand with only the others who died, and not him?”

Owen J Hurcum, the non-binary former mayor of Bangor, Wales, said: “At least one trans person was murdered here, at a trans inclusive bar, on the eve of #TransDayOfRemembrance, and you deliberately exclude extending your solidarity to trans people. F**k off.”

Musician Billy Bragg noted: “I know [gender-critical] feminists hate being called trans-exclusionary, yet here is one of the main advocacy groups specifically excluding trans people from their message of solidarity with victims of a murderous attack on the LGBTQ+ community.”

Dr Natacha Kennedy, co-chair of the Feminist Gender Equality Network, branded LGB Alliance “a transphobic hate group”.

Green Party councillor Benali Hamdache tweeted: “This violence was against LGB AND T people. The fact you can’t even stand in solidarity against violence exposes you for the anti-trans hate club that you are.”

Another user simply shared a picture of Aston and wrote: “Say his name.”

The LGB Alliance followed up its tweet with a second message that again failed to mention trans people.

“Our tweet in shock and sorrow at the shootings in Colorado Springs is being misrepresented by some,” the group said.

“We stand in solidarity – as LGB people – against all violence and extend our thoughts to ALL the victims of such horror.”

The group has been criticised since its inception for attacking the rights of trans people and has been accused of fuelling anti-trans hate.

In response to criticism, the LGB Alliance has claimed to “fully support trans people in their struggle, for dignity, respect and a life lived free from bigotry and fear”, but also suggests that trans-inclusive activism is a “new kind of homophobia”.

The LGB Alliance is a registered charity, but the Charity Commission is currently facing a legal challenge against this status.

Trans youth charity Mermaids has argued that it is “fanciful” to suggest that LGB people in general “are amongst those which LGB Alliance claims to serve”.

Mermaids’ counsel Michael Gibbon said evidence had shown that LGB Alliance believes that “LGB rights are intrinsically in conflict with trans rights”, and that by being “pro-LGB” as defined by LGB Alliance, the “effect is to challenge and to be against trans rights”.

Daniel Davis Aston, 28, was one of the first victims named from the Club Q shooting. He worked as a bartender at the venue, as was the second named victim Derrick Rump.

The New York Times reports that Club Q was gearing up to hold a Trans Day of Remembrance event on Sunday (20 November).

Hours after news of the mass shooting broke, police identified 22 year old Anderson Lee Andrich as the suspect.

Local news outlets reported that at least two people fought with the suspect, which helped save lives on the night.

PinkNews has contacted LGB Alliance for comment.

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