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Club Q shooting revives plans for LGBTQ resource center to fill gap left by 2015 closure of Colorado Springs’ pride center

The Nov. 19 attack on one of Colorado Springs’ few LGBTQ safe havens has reignited the effort among the community

Olivia Prentzel
The Colorado Sun
Justice Lord, a father of three, moved from New York City to Colorado Springs in 2009, and has since advocated for LGBTQ resources and support throughout the Springs.
Olivia Sun/The Colorado Sun via Report for America

When Justice Lord left New York City in 2009 to start fresh in Colorado Springs, he felt welcome. Inside a cafe, he remembers picking up a flier listing resources to help the LGBTQ community, including same-sex parenting.

“For me, it’s all about family. It’s all about that connection. It’s all about being able to have the same rights as everybody else that is walking along the same streets as you,” said Lord, a father of three. “And that’s what I thought Colorado was bringing me.” 

Club Q, where he worked as a bouncer years ago, was where he “truly owned becoming a trans, two-spirit male.” And the city’s pride center was where he went to find community before it closed in 2015.



“(The pride center) was basically a place to feel safe and to feel like you were a part of something in the community,” he said, “because back then, the LGBTQIA population wasn’t that big. It wasn’t as big as it is now.”

For nearly 40 years, the center provided assistance and support programs for thousands of people across a region known for its tumultuous history when it comes to embracing the queer community. Last month, a gunman shattered a sense of safety at Club Q, one of the city’s few remaining spaces where many said they could be themselves without fear. 

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