As the LGBTQ community collectively reels from and responds to the mass shooting in a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub yesterday, I want to offer a few resources for those of us whose children may have fears or questions about the tragedy.
First, I offer my deep sympathies to the families and friends of the victims and to the Club Q employees and patrons. I recommit to speaking out against anti-LGBTQ violence and the prejudice and misunderstandings that are often its forerunner. I recommit to contacting my elected officials about gun control and voting in favor of it. I hope you will do the same.
It feels awful to think about discussing such things with children—but I remind myself that not everyone even gets the option of sheltering their children from them, as children themselves have been too often the victims or witnesses, or live in places where gun violence is a daily concern. News of this shooting broke on the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a reminder of how close deadly violence is in too many of our lives.
I was shaken reading in the New York Times that “Hours before it was hit by a deadly mass shooting Saturday night, Club Q in Colorado Springs posted on Facebook about a planned ‘all ages drag brunch’ on Sunday morning.” Children could easily have been the victims, as they have been in far too many other shootings—and every victim is someone’s child.
In today’s world, too, children are often aware of current events via the Internet or via friends who have seen things on the Internet, even when we parents do not realize it. If the tragedy scares me, how much more might it scare a young LGBTQ person or one with LGBTQ parents?
For those looking for ways to help children process their feelings around this latest shooting or around ongoing active shooter drills in their schools:
- Sesame Street offers resources on Community & Gun Violence for children and families.
- Publisher A Kids Company About is making their A Kids Book About School Shootings downloadable for free. Written by a survivor of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, it is aimed at ages 5 to 9. While the Colorado Springs shooting did not happen in a school, some of the suggestions in this book may still be useful.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics explains, “How to Talk With Kids About Tragedies & Other Traumatic News Events.”
- The American Psychological Association shares ideas for “Helping your children manage distress in the aftermath of a shooting.”
- Everytown offers some “general information and coping tips” on “Children’s Responses to Trauma.”
And for people who need it, the Disaster Distress Helpline, 1.800.985.5990, is a 24/7, 365-day-a-year, national hotline with immediate crisis counseling for people experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster.
One Colorado also offers the following resources, not specifically aimed at children, for anyone needing support after the tragedy:
- National Victims of Violent Crimes, 1.202.467.8700
- Colorado Crisis Services, 1.844.493.TALK (8225)
- Crisis Text Line, Text HOME to 741741
- Trevor Project, Text START to 678-678 or call 1.866.488.7386
If you wish to donate to help the victims in Colorado Springs, here is the official donation site shared by Club Q, the site of the shooting, on its Facebook page.
If you wish to learn more about or take action against gun violence, Everytown for Gun Safety and Giffords are two places to start.
Gun violence in the U.S. is a multi-pronged problem that we must address in many ways. It may seem daunting, but as I’ve said before, I find myself turning for strength to a saying from my Jewish tradition, “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” We must resist, persist, and not desist. We owe it to our communities and to everybody’s children.