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

Contents:

• AT LEAST 5 KILLED SHOOTG AT GAY NIGHTCLUB COLORADO SPRGS, POLICE SAY
• GUNMAN KILLED 5 AT COLORADO SPRGS GAY CLUB BEFORE BEG SUBDUED BY PATRONS, POLICE SAY
• I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK
• ‘IT’S MY FLORIDA TOO’: PULSE SHOOTG SURVIVOR BRANDON WOLF ON BEG BLACK, GAY AND THE ANTI-RON DESANTIS
• 2 AD, 14 JURED MASS SHOOTG AT GAY CLUB NORWAY
• ‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’: GRIEF AND ANGER COLORADO SPRGS OVER GAY NIGHTCLUB SHOOTG
• SPECT MASS SHOOTG AT COLORADO GAY NIGHTCLUB IS EXPECTED TO TAKE A PLEA AL
• DEFENSE: COLORADO GAY CLUB SHOOTG SPECT IS NONBARY

AT LEAST 5 KILLED SHOOTG AT GAY NIGHTCLUB COLORADO SPRGS, POLICE SAY

— A gunman opened fire a gay nightclub Colorado Sprgs, Colo., killg five people and jurg 18 before he was subdued by “heroic” patrons and arrted by police who arrived on the scene wh about five mut, police said firearms, cludg a “long rifle, ” were found at the scene at Club Q, said Colorado Sprgs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez.

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

Jared Polis, who beme the first openly gay man the Uned Stat to be elected ernor 2018, said the news was “sickeng.

”Although a motive the shootg wasn’t yet clear, nor were the genr inti of the victims, the cint me as anti-gay rhetoric has tensified by extremists. Club Q is a gay and lbian nightclub that featur a “Drag Diva Drag Show” on Saturdays, acrdg to s addn to the drag show, Club Q’s Facebook page said planned entertament clud a “punk and alternative show” precedg a birthday dance party, wh a Sunday “all ag bnch. Air Force Amy, as well as Foc on the Fay, a proment evangelil Christian November 2015, three people were killed and eight wound at a Planned Parenthood clic the cy when thori say a man opened fire bee he wanted to wage “war” on the clic bee performed shootg brought back memori of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub Orlando, Fla., that killed 49 people.

-elect Eric Sorensen, who is Illois’ first out gay ngrsman, tweeted that “we mt e loud voic to stand up agast hate. 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 have been 523 mass killgs sce 2006 rultg 2, 727 aths as of Nov. Colorado Sprgs, the state’s send-most populo cy wh jt unr 500, 000 rints, is home to a number of ary bas and is the headquarters for Foc on the Fay, the nservative Christian group that says homosexualy and same-sex marriage are ss.

I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK

He and his bs partner toured other succsful LGBTQ spac and noted a mon theme: “They were gay as hell, ” Grzecka told the outlet.

We knew we had to be gay as hell (to survive). Jared Polis, a Democrat and the natn’s first openly gay ernor, issued a statement Sunday llg the attack “horrific, sickeng and vastatg” and offered state rourc to lol law enforcement. Polis told CNN’s Jim Asta there are only two gay bars Colorado Sprgs, and Club Q was one of the ma venu.

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

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.

2 AD, 14 JURED MASS SHOOTG AT GAY CLUB NORWAY

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. 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.

‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’: GRIEF AND ANGER COLORADO SPRGS OVER GAY NIGHTCLUB SHOOTG

But as a gay man, I have been fightg my whole life to enjoy the very privileg I am entled to as both a beholr and protector of them.

I was one of few soldiers who joed the service before graduatg high school, but the admistratn at the time, which I believe was homophobic, chose to act as if I never existed bee of my queer hate that I experienced growg up on Long Island was my first enunter wh how others would treat me as a queer soldier. ”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.

SPECT MASS SHOOTG AT COLORADO GAY NIGHTCLUB IS EXPECTED TO TAKE A PLEA AL

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.

DEFENSE: COLORADO GAY CLUB SHOOTG SPECT IS NONBARY

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.

A police officer ss their vehicle while rpondg to a mass shootg at the Club Q gay nightclub Colorado Sprgs, Colorado, U. - ORLANDO, June 12, 2016 - A gunman fatally shot 49 people at Pulse, a gay nightclub, before he was shot ad by police. A shootg at a gay nightclub Oslo killed two people and jured 14 Saturday, hours before the Norwegian pal was set to host s annual Pri para.