A 22-year-old gunman opened fire inside Club Q in Colorado Springs, killing five and leaving 25 injured late Saturday.
“Today is a moment for us to reflect on the lives that we’ve lost to violence against the transgender community, and it is only too fitting and devastating that it comes in the wake of what happened in Colorado Springs last night,” Executive Director of San Diego Pride Fernando Lopez said.
Lopez and many others in San Diego gathered at the LGBT Center in Hillcrest for the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday.
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“I think what people need to walk away from is knowing that everyone has the ability to stop hate in its tracks. It doesn’t matter if it’s in your church, if it’s in your congregation, if it’s in your school, if it’s in your corporation that you work for, if it’s in your own family at the dinner table, all of us can stop hate and discrimination,” Lopez said.
Local leaders including Mayor Todd Gloria, San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, among others attended the event.
“We are going to do everything we can in our power to prevent the hate that we have seen too often against the transgender community and the broader LGBTQ community,” Whitburn said.
The San Diego Police Department will meet with business owners and community members on Monday to discuss the mass shooting in Colorado Springs along with safety and security, especially for anyone hosting events related to the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
San Diego Pride’s work to ensure safety will continue.
“Every single thing that we do is to combat hate, and we are just going to continue doing that work,” Lopez said.
