Mae Martin sums up hurt and fear felt after Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ club shooting: ‘I am so angry’
Mae Martin. (Getty)
Mae Martin put voice to the devastation, grief and fury felt by many after the Colorado Springs shooting.
Messages of grief, solidarity and pain have poured in from across the world after five people died and at least 25 were injured in a mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ venue, Club Q, in Colorado Springs.
Ashley Paugh, Raymond Green Vance, Derrick Rump, Daniel Aston and Kelly Loving were all killed in the attack.
The shooting comes amid an increasingly fraught time for LGBTQ+ people, with politicians and the media taking aim at queer and especially trans lives.
Sharing several images, including one of Daniel Aston – a trans man murdered in Club Q during the shooting, Mae Martin wrote: “I am so angry, so devastated.
“False narratives, fear mongering, ‘jokes’ that villains and dehumanise marginalised communities, ‘playing devil’s advocate’ about people’s lives – these things have real consequences. They put lives in danger.”
Martin pointed out Donald Trump and Kanye West returning to Twitter, anti-trans comedian Dave Chappelle being platformed by Netflix, the FIFA World Cup being held in anti-LGBTQ+ Qatar and the mainstream media debate around trans people’s existence as examples of why being LGBTQ+ is so “terrifying”.
They said that while “it’s great” that there is “more visibility and representation”, it is not enough.
They quoted trans poet Jennifer Espinoza, who wrote: “When a marginalised group is pushed into the spotlight, without further action taken towards protecting said group, awareness becomes not only an empty gesture, but a precursor towards increased violence and oppression.”
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Martin continued by pointing to “attacks on trans health care, anti trans bills” and Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law to show how this has been a “deadly year for LGBTQ+ people.”
They concluded: “I am heartened by the solidarity in my community, our ability to be resilient. I am always disappointed by the awkward nervous silence of our allies.”
They reminded their followers of the “how tenuous progress is” in light of Roe v Wade being overturned.
“All these things are connected,” they added.
Mae Martin’s post has been shared and liked by many who said they were “absolutely on the money”.
“Free speech is NOT hate speech. Words matter. It’s just so heartbreaking,” read one comment.
Another added: “Thank you for using your platform to highlight this. This is not OK. I honestly grow scared for my daughter as she grows up as a queer kid in this terrifying world.”
After the Colorado Springs shooting police arrested a suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, who is facing murder and hate crime charges.
Aldrich was stopped by patrons of the bar.
Army vet Richard Fierro, whose daughter’s boyfriend was victim Raymond Green Vance, said he grabbed the gunman by a handle on the back of his armour, pulled him to the ground and hit him in the head while a woman stamped on him.
Officials have said that the attack could have been more deadly were it not for their actions.
