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Below the vaulted dome and dark wood beams of a church in Colorado Springs, a gay men’s choir rehearsed for a concert that’s taken on new meaning after an LGBTQ+ night club became the site of a gruesome shooting that killed five and wounded 17 last month.
“There is no peace on earth, I said,” the chorus sang. “For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth.”
The old lyrics that rang through the halls of the First Congregational Church were haunted by new memories of the November 21 violence at Club Q – the sound of screams over club music, the sight of bullet wounds plugged by napkins and people pleading with their friends to keep breathing.
In the 13 days since the shooting, Colorado Springs’ LGBTQ+ community has worked to collect itself and forge ahead.
Patrons of Club Q , those who survived the rampage as well as regulars who weren’t there last Saturday, have organized donation drives for victims’ families, leaned on queer-affirming clergy and renewed their commitments to LGBTQ+ spaces and organizations, including Out Loud Colorado Springs Men’s Chorus.
