LGBT News

USA Today reports:   The man suspected of fatally shooting five people and injuring others at a LGBTQ nightclub is facing murder and hate crime charges, court records show. Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, is facing five murder charges and five charges of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury. Authorities on Monday were searching for a motive after the rampage left five people …

The New York Times reports: Richard M. Fierro said he was at a table in Club Q with his wife, daughter and friends on Saturday, watching a drag show, when the sudden flash of gunfire ripped across the nightclub. His instincts from four combat deployments as an Army officer in Iraq and Afghanistan instantly kicked in. Fight back, he told …

CNN reports: Video obtained by CNN shows Aldrich surrendering to law enforcement last year after allegedly making a bomb threat. Footage from the Ring door camera of the owner of the home shows Aldrich exiting the house with his hands up and barefoot, and walking to sheriff’s deputies. Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report by the man’s mother he was …

NewsNation reports: Investigators were still determining a motive and whether to prosecute it as a hate crime, El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen said to NewsNation on-air Monday morning. “We’re looking at also hate crime potentially if there’s any bias-motivated aspects of this. There’s obviously some evidence of that based on the fact of where this occurred,” Allen said. …

The Associated Press reports: A year and a half before he was arrested in the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooting that left five people dead, Anderson Lee Aldrich allegedly threatened his mother with a homemade bomb, forcing neighbors in surrounding homes to evacuate while the bomb squad and crisis negotiators talked him into surrendering. Yet despite that scare, there’s no …

The Associated Press reports: As bullets tore through a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five people and wounding many more, one patron who’d been partying moments before rushed into action, grabbing a handgun from the suspect, hitting him with it and pinning him down until police arrived just minutes later. He was one of at least two customers who …

ESPN reports: The captains of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands will not wear the ‘OneLove’ anti-discrimination armband in their World Cup opening games after confirmation that their captains would be given yellow cards if they took part in the initiative. The announcement came just before their World Cup campaigns were scheduled to start. The national federations said …

PBS reports: Hearts around Colorado and the country are hurting and mourning the loss of five lives in a mass shooting in a LGBTQ+ club in Colorado Springs. Hundreds showed up outside All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Colorado Springs for a community vigil on Sunday morning. The church was standing-room only, so organizers held the vigil in waves to …

Via press release from the White House: 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. We saw it six years ago in Orlando, when our nation …

Cox Media reports: During a Sunday morning news conference, police identified the suspected shooter as Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22. Colorado Springs police Chief Adrian Vasquez said that when the suspect entered Club Q, he was confronted by two “heroic” patrons who stopped the shooter. “We owe them a great debt,” Vasquez told reporters. Police said that the suspect used a …

Colorado Springs’ NBC affiliate reports: Late Saturday night into early Sunday morning first responders rushed to the scene of a shooting at Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs where police say 18 people were injured and 5 died. A press conference with the 4th Judicial District District Attorney’s Office, Colorado Springs Police, and Mayor John Suthers is scheduled for 8 …

The New York Daily News reports: Fans lining Sixth Ave. on Thursday for a glimpse of Santa and the new Stuart the Minion balloon will also get treated to some Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade history. Performing alongside appearances by Ziggy Marley, Joss Stone, Kirk Franklin and Dionne Warwick will be the Queer Big Apple Corps Marching Band, the first queer …

The Brussels Times reports: Belgium is banning conversion practices – a pseudoscientific practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms – for members of the LGBTQ community, announced State Secretary for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunity and Diversity Sarah Schlitz. “Belgium is a pioneer in the field of LGBTQ rights. Numerous …

Market Watch reports: Shares of Grindr Inc. GRND, +304.02% rocketed out of the gate under their new ticker Friday, after the LGBTQ social networking platform’s merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Tiga Acquisition Corp. was completed. The first trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “GRND” after the 9:30 a.m. Eastern open was at $17.00, …

The Daily Mail reports: The United States’ men’s national team have made a huge statement at the World Cup in Qatar by redesigning their crest to incorporate the rainbow flag, in a bid to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. The tournament, which starts on Sunday and sees the US play their opener against Wales on Monday, has been hugely …

The Oregonian reports: Democrat Tina Kotek has won the race for Oregon governor, defeating Republican Christine Drazan. It was a hard-fought and expensive win by Democrats, who have a huge party registration advantage in Oregon but faced strong headwinds this year amid voter frustration at problems including homelessness, violent crime and lackluster delivery of government programs and services. Kotek’s win …

Reuters reports: A Qatar World Cup ambassador has told German television broadcaster ZDF that homosexuality was “damage in the mind”, as the Gulf state prepares to host the global tournament in less than two weeks. Khalid Salman addressed the issue of homosexuality, which is illegal in the conservative Muslim country. “They have to accept our rules here,” Salman said. “(Homosexuality) …

NBC News reports: A Georgia county has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by a man whose case was one of three that led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment. The Clayton County Board of Commissioners this week approved an $825,000 settlement for Gerald Lynn …

Haaretz reports: Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu said in private talks on Friday that “There will be no harm to pride parades nor to the status-quo on LGBTQ rights,” following statements made by lawmakers from the Religious Zionism slate that they intend to work to cancel pride parades around the country. Sources in Likud said Thursday the party intends to cancel …

The New York Times reports: Russia’s Parliament is set to pass a legislative package that would ban all “gay propaganda,” signaling an even more difficult period ahead for a stigmatized segment of society. The laws would prohibit representation of L.G.B.T.Q. relationships in any media — streaming services, social platforms, books, music, posters, billboards and films — and, activists fear, in …