I Didn't Say It

Shangela, the first drag queen to appear on Dancing with the Stars, speaking out about the mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado on the show’s finale:

“The emotions have been heavy because there’s a lot going on in our world and in our country. There was a mass shooting, a horrible tragedy that happened in Colorado Springs. And baby let me tell you something, an attack on the LGBTQ community cannot be supported. This moment right here is about sharing more love and less hate, and hopefully we can start celebrating each other’s differences and not being divided. My heart and condolences go out to everyone whose lives were lost, who was affected. But just know, there is hope, baby.”

We must have hope, no matter how hard it seems to be hopeful, that the bigots and haters will be stopped. And we can do that ... look how much we've done up until now.

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Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, condemned Lauren Boebert for her tone-deaf statement about the Club Q shooting:

“You encourage this type of hatred. Get off Twitter and start looking inward. Republicans continue to run on and spread anti-LGBTQ ideology and hatred while refusing to lift a finger on gun violence. This is preventable, but only if they start seeing LGBTQ people as equals, and themselves as leaders.”

The GOP has the blood of Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh and Derrick Rump on their hands. As I said on FB:

Just a note to the GOP, though I know they aren't listening because they never seem to listen:

When you denigrate the LGBTQ+ community as "groomers" of children and when you shriek that Drag Queens reading books at a library to children is somehow predatory, you feed the hate that cost the world five beautiful souls this weekend.

So, please, shut your fucking mouths, stop with the "thoughts and prayers" bull shit because you don't care as long as the gunman is killing all the "right" people.

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Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, rips FIFA over their ban on Rainbow armbands:

“It’s always concerning … when we see any restrictions on freedom of expression. It’s especially so when the expression is for diversity and for inclusion, and in my judgment, at least no one on a football pitch should be forced to choose between supporting these values and playing for their team.”

FIFA should have never let the games be played in a country rooted in anti-LGBTQ+ hatred. It's the "little" things like telling athletes they can't wear an LGBTQ+ ally patch that spurs on bigots with guns to shoot us dead; the hatred starts somewhere and this ruling by FIFA is partially to blame.

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Ben Collins, NBC News’ senior reporter, calling for media outlets to have a “come to Jesus moment” in the wake of the mass shooting at Club Q:

“Here are some headlines that I wrote the last six months … ‘Fueled by parents far right machine anti-LGBTQ threats shut down trans rights and drag events' ... Remember, there was a drag event happening [at Club Q that night] … ‘Anti-trans stalkers at Kiwi Farms are chasing one victim around the world. Their list of targets is growing' ... that was a couple months ago … ‘Doctors under threat from far-right activists for providing trans care' ... ‘Boston Children’s Hospital faces bomb threat after right-wing harassment campaign’ ... there were three of those bomb threats … ‘FBI charges Massachusetts woman with Boston Children’s Hospital bomb threats’ ... so they found one of the people … ‘At least 20 Republican politicians have claimed that schools are making accommodations for students who identify as cats' ... That was before the midterms. Here are three more from my colleagues in the last three weeks … ‘As election nears some conservative groups have ramped up anti-trans campaign ads’ … ‘Far right figures appear to be testing Twitter’s boundaries for anti-LGBTQ speech’ … ‘GOP senator targets Tiktok influencer with anti-transgender taunt.' And I’m just wondering, what could I have done different? Seriously, as reporters what can we do different? Because there are five dead people in a strip mall—because that was the only place they felt safe, as gay or trans people in … Colorado Springs. And I am trying to thread this needle here. I’m trying to say that this is happening. This targeted stuff has real life impacts.”

The media needs to cover this for what it is: mass murder. And they need to call out those who perpetuate hate which leads to mass murder. And they need to call out every single Republican who, after any other mass shooting, offers “thoughts and prayers” to the victims, but after the murder of LGBTQ+ Americans, they stay silent.

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