Community vigil held in memory of Club Q mass shooting victims

Denise Coffey, Cape Cod Times
·4 min read

BARNSTABLE — The sun-drenched, pale yellow walls of the Unitarian Church served as a backdrop on Sunday for community members who spoke out against the hate and discrimination leveled against the LGBTQ community.

The Community Vigil in Memory of Colorado Springs was organized by Alejandro Marcel and Ann Burke. The vigil was for the five people killed at the gay bar Club Q on Nov. 19. But it was also a vigil to acknowledge the continuing violence against transgender men and women in this country. And the hateful rhetoric that fuels the violence.

A community vigil was held at the Unitarian Church of Barnstable Sunday afternoon to remember the victims of the Nov. 19 mass shooting at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. The vigil was also held to acknowledge violence against transgender men and women, and the hateful rhetoric that fuels the violence, organizers said.
A community vigil was held at the Unitarian Church of Barnstable Sunday afternoon to remember the victims of the Nov. 19 mass shooting at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. The vigil was also held to acknowledge violence against transgender men and women, and the hateful rhetoric that fuels the violence, organizers said.

Marcel is a transgender public health specialist. The 68-year-old calls himself a member of the Stonewall Generation, the LGBT baby boomers who lived through the Stonewall uprising in New York, and were at the forefront of the gay rights movement in the U.S. He recalled a personal history that included the murder of Harvey Milk, the difficulties between the police and the queer community in San Francisco, the AIDS epidemic, and the push to add T to the LGB acronym.

The mass shooting at Club Q called for a response on Cape Cod, vigil organizers say

The mass shooting at Club Q, in Colorado Springs, called for a response, he said.

Lauren-Tom, a member of the Cape and Islands Transgender Resource Fund, greeted people at the door of the church.

"People were murdered,” said Lauren-Tom, who is non-binary. “Violence is being committed against people in marginalized communities. It happens over and over again. We have to keep it in the forefront.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 32 transgender and gender non-conforming individuals have been killed in 2022.

With Ann Burke, Lauren Tom, co-chair of the Cape and Islands Trans Resource Fund, right, rings a bell at a vigil on Sunday, saying the name for each of the five victims of the Club Q shooting. Burke is the Cape Cod advocate for Fenway Health's Violence Recovery Program and founder and co-chair of the Cape and Islands Trans Resource Fund.
With Ann Burke, Lauren Tom, co-chair of the Cape and Islands Trans Resource Fund, right, rings a bell at a vigil on Sunday, saying the name for each of the five victims of the Club Q shooting. Burke is the Cape Cod advocate for Fenway Health's Violence Recovery Program and founder and co-chair of the Cape and Islands Trans Resource Fund.

Burke is a registered nurse who works at Fenway Health in Boston providing counseling and advocacy to the LGBTQ community. After the mass shooting at Club Q, Fenway Health put out a statement saying there is a direct line between hate speech and hate violence. And the past year has seen an increase in legislation proposed and signed into law that targets the LGBT community. 

"The targets of these attacks include drag queens, transgender, non-binary, and queer youth, supportive educators and librarians, and clinicians who provide gender-affirming care,” the statement read.

More:New generation of Seacoast drag queens thriving, building a mainstream following

According to CNN, 33 states introduced more than 100 bills curbing the rights of transgender people in 2021. Twenty states have introduced bills that prohibit the administration of gender-affirming therapy to minors. Yet studies by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Williams Institute and Cornell University found that access to such treatment was associated with lower odds of long-term and consistent suicidal thoughts.

Having one supportive adult can decrease the risk of suicide

“Suicidal ideation is almost universal in the trans community, not because of anything wrong with them but because of the way they are reacted to by the society, typically family,” Lauren-Tom said.

The NIH National Library of Medicine reported in 2020 that 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide.

More:Annual award honors women in transition

Which is why allyship is so important, Burke said.

“If a trans youth has one supportive adult, it decreases their risk of suicide by 63%,” she said.

Thirty people took the time to attend the afternoon vigil. Ignorance generates fear, one person said. People are confused about gender nonconformity. They don’t know what to make of it, she said. Those of us who can speak out need to educate others, to help them understand, she added.

Joe Lima, president of PFLAG of Cape Cod, center, speaks during Sunday's vigil, held at the Unitarian Church of Barnstable to remember the victims of the Nov. 19 mass shooting at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs.
Joe Lima, president of PFLAG of Cape Cod, center, speaks during Sunday's vigil, held at the Unitarian Church of Barnstable to remember the victims of the Nov. 19 mass shooting at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs.

Linda Bailey-Davies and her wife, Gloria, came to show their support and allyship with the trans community. The two were plaintiffs in the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage. They married on May 17, 2004, the first day gay marriage was allowed in the state.

“We all have to stick together,” Linda Bailey-Davies said.

Burke read a letter of support from Jeanne Morrison, president of Amplify POC Cape Cod. In her letter, Morrison called hate a national crisis, lamented the country’s apathy, and asked why there wasn’t nationwide outrage at the levels of hate spoken in the public arena and acted out.

“Violence is holding our country hostage,” Barnstable Church pastor the Rev. Dr. Kristen Harper said. "We can't just accept hate. We need to do something more than just get together and talk about love. We can make a difference. Let us do this work.”

Contact Denise Coffey at dcoffey@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @DeniseCoffeyCCT.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Vigil in Barnstable remembers Club Q victims, transgender men, women