‘It’s my Florida too’: Pulse shootg survivor Brandon Wolf on beg Black, gay and the anti-Ron DeSantis | US news | The Guardian

Contents:

• GUNMAN KILLED 5 AT COLORADO SPRGS GAY CLUB BEFORE BEG SUBDUED BY PATRONS, POLICE SAY
• WHO IS ANRSON LEE ALDRICH, SPECT MASS SHOOTG AT COLORADO GAY NIGHTCLUB?
• ‘IT’S MY FLORIDA TOO’: PULSE SHOOTG SURVIVOR BRANDON WOLF ON BEG BLACK, GAY AND THE ANTI-RON DESANTIS

GUNMAN KILLED 5 AT COLORADO SPRGS GAY CLUB BEFORE BEG SUBDUED BY PATRONS, POLICE SAY

A 22-year-old gunman opened fire wh a semitomatic rifle si a gay nightclub Colorado Sprgs, killg five people and leavg 25 jured before he was subdued by "heroic" patrons and arrted by police who arrived wh mut, thori said spect the Saturday night shootg at Club Q ed an AR-15-style semitomatic weapon, a law enforcement official said. Suthers said there was "reason to hope" that all of those hospalized would shootg rekdled memori of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people. He said patrons who tervened durg the attack were "heroic" and owed a bt of gratu for preventg more Q is a gay and lbian nightclub that featur a drag show on Saturdays, acrdg to s webse.

WHO IS ANRSON LEE ALDRICH, SPECT MASS SHOOTG AT COLORADO GAY NIGHTCLUB?

Jared Polis, who beme the first openly gay man the Uned Stat to be elected ernor 2018, lled the shootg "sickeng. Experts warned that extremist groups uld see anti-gay rhetoric as a ll to prev month, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his small Boise ngregatn that gay, lbian and transgenr people should be executed by the ernment, which led up wh siar sermons om a Texas fundamentalist 2006, there have been 523 mass killgs and 2, 727 aths as of Nov. A 22-year-old gunman opened fire a gay nightclub Colorado Sprgs, killg five people and leavg more than two dozen jured before he was subdued by "heroic" patrons and arrted by police who were on the scene wh mut, thori said a news nference Sunday morng, Colorado Sprgs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez intified the spect as 22-year-old Anrson Lee Aldrich, who was beg treated for juri.

"Flags will be lowered for 5 days to remember each of the 5 dividuals who lost their liv this sensels tragedy, " Polis Q is a gay and lbian nightclub that featur a "Drag Diva Drag Show" on Saturdays, acrdg to s webse. Although a motive wasn't yet clear, nor were the genr inti of the victims, the cint me as anti-gay rhetoric has tensified by extremists. Experts warned that extremist groups uld see anti-gay rhetoric as a ll to actn.

The prev month, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his small Boise ngregatn that gay, lbian and transgenr people should be executed by the ernment, which led up wh siar sermons om a Texas fundamentalist have been 523 mass killgs sce 2006 rultg 2, 727 aths as of Nov. ”The killgs rekdled memori of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people.

‘IT’S MY FLORIDA TOO’: PULSE SHOOTG SURVIVOR BRANDON WOLF ON BEG BLACK, GAY AND THE ANTI-RON DESANTIS

”Wolf had sought refuge Florida 15 years ago when he was done wh ral Oregon, the childhood home where he suffered embedd racism and homophobia on a daily basis.

Among his motivatns for wrg the book was to reclaim tersectnaly om DeSantis and others on the right who seek to hijack explas: “I wanted to give a human flavour to what tersectnaly actually looks and feels like and what feels like to experience racism and homophobia at the same time. Growg up a nservative majory whe town was difficult bee the same kid who would ll me the N-word on one day would ll me a homophobic slur on another day and I was nstantly navigatg the tersectns of those two thgs. Last month DeSantis’s mpaign released an anti-LGBTQ+ vio assailg Tmp for his past support of gay and transgenr ments: “It is a sry time to be not jt LGBTQ but LGBTQ and Black this state and ultimately that’s the tent.

" He was taken to police ctody shortly after the shootg began and was beg treated for juri, acrdg to shootg was remiscent of the 2016 Pulse club massacre, when a gunman killed 49 people at the gay nightclub of that name Orlando, Florida, before he was fatally shot by unfold as LGBTQ muni and alli around the world prepared to mark the Transgenr Day of Remembrance on Sunday, an annual observance to honor victims of transphobic Q, a long-tablished venue a most strip mall, was scribed by many as a safe haven for the LGBTQ muny Colorado's send-largt of the victims was intified as Daniel Aston, 28, a transgenr man and bartenr at the club who also performed shows as a dancer, acrdg to a Colorado Public Rad terview wh his mother, Sabra Aston. '"[1/7]General view of the Club Q gay nightclub as police rpond to a mass shootg Colorado Sprgs, Colorado, U. Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who 2018 beme the first openly gay man the untry to be elected as a ernor, lled the shootg a "sensels act of evil.