President Biden Offers Support for Club Q

President Biden and the First Lady telephoned Club Q owners this week to offer their condolences.

“They reiterated their support for the community as well as their commitment to fighting back against hate and gun violence,” the White House told The Advocate on Friday. “They also thanked Nic and Matthew for the incredible contributions they have made and will continue to make to Colorado Springs.”

In a statement, the White House pointed out that hate against the LGBTQ community is on the rise. “While no motive in this attack is yet clear, we know that the LGBTQI+ community has been subjected to horrific hate violence in recent years. Gun violence continues to have a devastating and particular impact on LGBTQI+ communities across our nation and threats of violence are increasing.”

Biden referenced the Orlando shooting of 2016. “We saw it six years ago in Orlando, when our nation suffered the deadliest attack affecting the LGBTQI+ community in American history. We continue to see it in the epidemic of violence and murder against transgender women—especially transgender women of color. And tragically, we saw it last night in this devastating attack by a gunman wielding a long rifle at an LGBTQI+ nightclub in Colorado Springs.”

Shooter Faces Murder, Hate Crimes Charges

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“Places that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence,” the President said in the statement. “Yet it happens far too often. We must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot and must not tolerate hate.”

Biden also used the occasion to make a plug for gun control. “When will we decide we’ve had enough?” he asked. “We must address the public health epidemic of gun violence in all of its forms.”

Biden noted that earlier this year, he signed “the most significant gun safety law in nearly three decades, in addition to taking other historic actions.” But, he added, “We must do more. We need to enact an assault weapons ban to get weapons of war off America’s streets.”

The President wrapped up his statement by saying, “Jill and I are praying for the families of the five people killed in Colorado Springs last night, and for those injured in this senseless attack.”