COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The co-owner of the Colorado Springs gay nightclub where a gunman turned a drag queen’s birthday party into a massacre said he believes the shooting that killed five people killed and 17 others injured is a reflection of anti-LGBTQ sentiment that has evolved from prejudice to incitement.
Nic Grzecka’s voice was scratched with exhaustion as he spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday night in some of his first comments since Saturday night’s attack at Club Q, a venue that Grzecka helped build into an enclave that the LGBTQ -community in conservative-leaning Colorado Springs support. .
Authorities have not said why the suspect opened fire on the club before he was subdued by patrons, but they are facing hate crime charges. The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, did not enter a plea or speak about the incident.
Grzecka said he believes the targeting of a drag queen event is connected to the art form being cast in a false light in recent months by right-wing activists and politicians who complain about the “sexualization” or “grooming ” of children. Even though the general acceptance of the LGBTQ community has grown, this new dynamic has fostered a dangerous climate.
“It’s different to walk down the street holding my friend’s hand and spat on (as opposed to) a politician who relates a drag queen to a groomer of her child,” Grzecka said. “I would rather be spat on in the street than for the hatred to get as bad as where we are today.”
Earlier this year, Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature passed a bill that prohibits teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation with younger students. A month later, references to “pedophiles” and “grooming” in relation to LGBTQ people rose 400%, according to a report by the Human Rights Campaign.
“Lying about our community, and making them into something they’re not, creates a different kind of hate,” Grzecka said.
Grzecka, who began mopping floors and bartending at Club Q in 2003 a year after it opened, said he hopes to channel his grief and anger to find out how the support system for the LGBTQ community of Colorado Springs can rebuild, which only Club Q had provided.
City and state officials have offered support, and President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden reached out to Grzecka and co-owner Matthew Haynes on Thursday to offer condolences and reiterate their support for the community, as well as their commitment to fighting back against hate and gun violence
Grzecka said Club Q opened after the only other gay bar in Colorado Springs at the time shuttered. He described that era as an evolution of gay bars. Decades ago, dingy, hole-in-the-wall gay venues were mostly meant for finding a hookup or date, Grzecka said. But he said that once the Internet offered anonymous ways to find love online, bars transitioned into well-lit, clean, non-smoking spaces for hanging out with friends. Club Q was at the forefront of that transition.
Once he became a co-owner in 2014, Grzecka helped shape Club Q into not just a night club, but a community center — a platform to create a “chosen family” for LGBTQ people, especially those who are alienated of her birth family. Drag queen bingo nights, friendsgiving and Christmas dinners, and birthday celebrations became staples of Club Q which was open 365 days a year.
In the aftermath of the shooting, with the community center that was Club Q torn down, Grzecka and other community leaders said they channeled grief and anger to reconstitute the support structure that only that place had offered.
“When that system goes away, you realize how much more the bar really delivered,” said Justin Burn, an organizer with Pikes Peak Pride. “Those who may or may not have been a part of the Club Q family, where are they going?”
Burn said the shooting pulled back a curtain on a broader lack of resources for LGBTQ adults in Colorado Springs. Burn, Grzecka and others are working with national organizations to conduct a community needs assessment as they develop a blueprint to provide a robust support network.
Grzecka seeks to rebuild the “culture of love” and necessary support to “make sure that this tragedy is turned into the best thing it can be for the city.”
That started on Thursday night, when Club Q’s 10-year anniversary friendship was held at the non-denominational Pikes Peak Metropolitan Community Church. Survivors, community members, friends and family shared donated Thanksgiving food under twinkling lights and near rainbow balloon towers.
Organized by the LGBTQ group United Court of Pikes Peak Empire, the light atmosphere of the dinner felt amplified. People smiled, hugged each other and told stories from the stage about those who lost their lives.
“Everybody needs community,” Grzecka said.
Earlier that day at the memorial stone, a trickle of people walked slowly along the wall of flowers and candles that had burned out. Five white crosses were attached with wooden hearts inscribed with the names of the dead and notes written by mourners. “I hope you dance,” someone wrote on Ashley Paugh’s wooden heart.
A message was written on a concrete barrier: “Please hear our calls. Protect us, our home.”
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Jesse Bedayn is a staff member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on hidden issues.