Dove Cameron shares tribute to Colorado Spring shooting victims during AMAs: ‘You are so loved’
Dove Cameron took a moment during her AMA award acceptance speech to pay tribute to the victims killed in the shooting. (Getty)
Singer Dove Cameron gave a powerful tribute to the Colorado Springs shooting victims during her award acceptance at the American Music Awards (AMAs).
The AMAs took place hours after news broke of a mass shooting at Colorado Springs gay club, Club Q, which has left five dead and at least 25 injured.
As tributes have poured in from across the political and cultural world, Cameron joined them with her own message after winning New Artist of the Year.
“I want to start by saying that every award that I ever win will always first and foremost be dedicated to the queer community at large.
“You guys have carved out such a space for me to be myself and to write music about it and I have never felt safer or more loved or more supported, and I hope I can give you some semblance of that same feeling in my music.
“On the heels of the tragedy that happened in Club Q in Colorado Springs I want to remind everyone how important queer visibility is and how important community is.
“I want to direct your attention toward organisations like GLAAD and The Trevor Project for what you can do right now.
“I want to remind you that you are made absolutely right and you are so loved and so held and I want to thank you for supporting me and thank you for holding this space, I’m holding it for you too.”
I’ll say this: @DoveCameron’s performance for “Boyfriend” and acceptance speech for New Artist of the Year were *the* highlights of the #AMAs. Nothing else came close. pic.twitter.com/M66k1Sv6Na— Tomás Mier (@Tomas_Mier) November 21, 2022
Her speech was met with huge praise from attendees and those in social media.
Cameron, who first came out as queer to fans in August 2020 over Instagram Live, said to Gay Times last year: “It felt like something that I could never talk about. I feel like the industry has changed a lot in terms of having room for people with platforms to be human and not to be picked apart.
“I was really nervous to come out, and one day, I dropped it because I was behaving like somebody who was out and I realised I wasn’t.”
Colorado police have confirmed a suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, has been identified. The gunman was subdued by two people inside the club.
Testimony from those within Club Q has also started being shared, including from the drag act performing that evening, Del Lusional.
They tweeted: “I don’t know what to do with myself. I can stop hearing the shots. This doesn’t feel real. Like at all. I hate this so much. I hate this so f**king much.”
