Reflecting on the Club Q tragedy 2 years later amid concerns for the future
On a frigid night Tuesday night, people lit candles and remembered the victims of the mass shooting at Club Q two years ago on Nov. 19, 2022.
"It doesn't seem real still. We talk about this all the time. He's just going to come through the door any minute," said mother Sabrina Aston about her son Daniel, who was among the victims at the LGTBQIA+ bar.
"I'll never look at the sunset the same way. I'll never be able to enjoy the mountains as much. There's just a tinge of sadness to everything we do," said Jeff Aston, Daniel's father.
In the crowd, shooting survivor Ed Sanders continues to have trouble walking and pain from the two bullets he took.
"There's pain, sometimes in the back. With the back wound, where they sewed it up, is too tight. And I get muscle pain sometimes when I'm fatigued and my legs are tired a lot," said Sanders. There's more difficulty with the mental anguish as well.
"I can't move on from the divisiveness that this shooting has caused in our community. We're attacking each other like wolves," he said.
At the vigil, people gathered about the memorial, which is taking shape outside the former club. There are now five pillars erected in memory of the five people who were killed. Backers of the project have put out a call to artists to engage with families of the victims to create appropriate memorials on each of the pillars.
At The Q -- the new club that opened after Club Q closed down -- club cofounder Michael Anderson keeps going, despite being the only bartender who survived the shooting. He has never taken time to get away.
"At no time during this journey have I stepped off this path and stepped out of this story that became very real because immediately following the shooting. I immediately began testifying before Congress about gun reform," he said.
Then there was the matter of getting The Q open.
"Club Q stood for over 20 years with a single focused mission on creating a safe space for anybody and everybody. For people to be their authentic selves. To live their lives with respect and acceptance amongst like-minded peers and that's what it stood for," Anderson said.
Anderson and others are troubled by the political atmosphere.
"We're seeing all these communities becoming targets of political reform, not good political reform political rhetoric and a lot of that is coming from the top down. And that's what I think is so scary about this moment in time."
Jeff Aston also thinks about how people perceive those who worked at and frequented Club Q: "If people would just take the time to get to know somebody that's a little different from you, there will be a lot less hate and misunderstanding in the world. And things like this wouldn't happen as much."