Add 30 Exclamation Points to “Remember Transgender Individuals This Weekend”!
On Saturday night at a LGBTQ+ Club in Colorado Springs, 5 were killed and at least 25 injured.
Savvapanf Photo/AdobeStock
PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS
On Friday, I wrote the column “Remember Transgender Individuals This Weekend.” On Saturday night at a LGBTQ+ Club in Colorado Springs, 5 were killed and at least 25 injured in a mass shooting. Two attendees courageously tackled the shooter to end the shooting.
So far, the exact motive is unclear, and how many transgender individuals were hurt is unknown. However, it has been conveyed that the bartender was trans and amongst those killed. His partner, a drag performer, was behind the bar during the shooting and survived.
Saturday was the last day of Transgender Awareness Week. Club Q, where the shooting occurred, generally features a “Drag Diva Drag Show” on Saturdays. Drag-related events have drawn extremist political protests recently about their imagined danger to children. In a tragic example of synchronicity, the shooting took place only hours before Sunday’s International Transgender Day of Remembrance, as if to punctuate the present and past losses of life.
I had ended that column with a personal plea for help in reducing the hatred and violence toward the transgender. Let me add 30 exclamation points, 1 for each of the victims so far.
Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who has specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry. A prolific writer and speaker, he received the one-time designation of Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association in 2002. He is an advocate for mental health issues related to climate instability, burnout, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism for a better world. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times™.
