Colorado Springs officials on Monday confirmed the names of the five Club Q patrons and employees who were murdered in a horrific hate crime that targeted the LGBTQ club and haven late Saturday night. Their names were Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump, and Raymond Green Vance. Both Aston and Loving were transgender; Aston and Rump were both Club Q bartenders and well liked by customers. All of the victims were 40 years old or younger. Twenty-five others were wounded by the gunman.
During the press conference Monday, Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez stated the pronouns of each victim. “It was a small gesture, but an important one, LGBTQ advocates said,” The Washington Post reported. Indeed—it’s a matter of basic human dignity.
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Aston’s was among the first names to circulate on social media following the shooting Saturday. The 28-year-old had begun transitioning when he was in college and moved from Oklahoma to Colorado about two years ago, performing at the club in addition to being the bar supervisor. Bar regular Ed Sanders told The New York Times that Aston was constantly looking out for patrons, including driving him home when ride sharing services weren’t available.
Friends told KRDO that Kelly Loving, 40, had been excited to move to Colorado. Her sister, Tiffany, said that she’d talked to Kelly earlier that day. “My sister was a good person,” she said in a statement reported by KKTV. “She was loving and caring and sweet. Everyone loved her. Kelly was a wonderful person.” In a much-too-tragic coincidence unique only to the United States, a close friend of Kelly’s was a survivor of the 2016 shooting that targeted the Pulse club in Florida. Natalee Skye Bingham “told ABC News that Kelly was someone she looked up to and taught her a lot about her own transition,” KRDO continued.
Paugh, 35, had driven up for the day with a friend, her sister Stephanie Clark told NBC News. The two had spent the day eating and shopping and having fun, and had planned to end the evening at Club Q. "It just doesn't seem real," Clark said in the report. "We're heartbroken. We're sad. We're mad, angry." Paugh leaves behind an 11-year-old child who is “devastated,” Clark said. In a statement reported by KKTV, Paugh’s husband, Kurt, described her as his “high school sweetheart,” and said that she “had a huge heart.” Paugh was an advocate for children in foster care, including helping them find new homes with loving LGBTQ families.
Rump, 38, worked alongside Aston and was similarly adored. “He bought lashes and outfits for drag queens who couldn’t afford them, and during the pandemic, when all of the performers lost their jobs, he bought other people’s groceries for two months straight,” The Washington Post said. One performer said that both Rump and Aston had agreed to begin greeting people with “friend,” rather than “guys” or “girls,” something people often do without really thinking but could be hurtful.
“It changed so many people’s lives because they didn’t feel misgendered,” the performer told The Washington Post. “I know it’s such a small thing, but it matters to people.”
Like Paugh, Raymond Green Vance was not a member of the LGBTQ community but had gone to Club Q with his girlfriend and her family to celebrate a birthday. His girlfriend’s dad, Richard M. Fierro, has been heralded for rushing the gunman and preventing many, many more tragic killings. But in tearful interviews since, Fierro has mourned the deaths of Vance and the four others.
“Raymond was the victim of a man who unleashed terror on innocent people out with family and friends,” his family said in a statement reported by CNN. They said he’s been working toward getting his own apartment. “His own family and friends are completely devastated by the sudden loss of a son, grandson, brother, nephew, and cousin loved by so many.”
“Chief Vasquez’s acknowledgment of names and pronouns was inclusive, accurate and compassionate,” LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD said in a statement reported by The Washington Post. “Hopefully it was also a measure of comfort to families in grief and to a community in shock. LGBTQ people are not always called the right name, or they’re misgendered, including often by police, and it can hurt.”
The hate crime occurred the night before Transgender Day of Remembrance, an occasion that serves to remember, honor, and continue seeking justice for trans victims of hatred. It also comes after months of escalating anti-LGBTQ attacks from right-wing figures and Republicans alike, such as the notorious Libs of TikTok account, and Colorado’s Lauren Boebert. The Republican lawmaker tweeted a purported condolence following the shooting, which only rings false after her earlier anti-LGBTQ tweets.
“Our hearts are broken for the victims of the horrific tragedy in Colorado Springs, and their loved ones,” said GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis. “This unspeakable attack has robbed countless people of their friends and family and an entire community’s sense of safety. You can draw a straight line from the false and vile rhetoric about LGBTQ people spread by extremists and amplified across social media, to the nearly 300 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced this year, to the dozens of attacks on our community like this one.”
“That this mass shooting took place on the eve of on Transgender Day of Remembrance, when we honor the memory of the trans people killed the prior year, deepens the trauma and tragedy for all in the LGBTQ community,” Ellis continued.
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