COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — People across the nation were shaken by the recent shooting at Club Q, a nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado in which five people died. Club Q was known for being a safe haven for the LGBTQ community. In response to the tragedy, ColGay Pride of Columbus, Georgia will be holding an outdoor ceremony and candlelight vigil on Monday, Nov. 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the outside plaza of the Columbus Consolidated Government Building (Springer side) at 100 East 10th St.
Jeremy Hobbs, director and founder of ColGay Pride, said there will be several faith leaders at the vigil including the Rev. Emily Bel from Forgiving Heart United Church of Christ, Pastor Colley Williams from New Covenant Church Of Columbus, Georgia and the Rev. Grace Burton-Edwards of St. Thomas Episcopal Church.
“I’ve already reached out to Temple Israel,” Hobbs said. “They showed up at our Pulse one that we did. Any faith that’s out there, we want to make sure that we recognize and have people there to help.”
Hobbs said Columbus City Councilmember Walker Garrett and Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson may speak at the event. He is looking for singers, as well.
He said people have called him for the past few days upset about the shooting.
“We’re already dealing with so much with this environment … You know, we thought everything was going to be fine, and all of the sudden, we’re being attacked left and right by people,” he said. “And you know, the biggest problem I see with people out there is because we keep letting people say what they want to out there, and it just intensifies the people that are out there sitting with guns or whatever, ready to do some damage to people.”
Hobbs said the vigil will honor the deceased as well as the people who stopped the shooter.
“Those people right there are to be commended,” he said about those who stopped the gunman. “I hope Biden or somebody brings them a medal or something like that because that’s uncanny. A lot of people wouldn’t even put themselves in the line of fire like that and just take the gun like they did.”
Hobbs said there will be a central section at the vigil for people to place items such as cards.
“Even though we might be miles away from Colorado Springs, I hope that everybody out there echoes this and does something to show their support, their love for the community and everything else and let them know they’re not alone,” he said. “We’re all standing with them.”