AURORA, Colo. — After hearing the news that five died and 18 were injured in a shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ+ bar in Colorado Springs, Tim Hernández’s first concern was his students at Aurora West College Preparatory School, where he teaches ethnic studies.
“We have LGBTQ students in every class, in every school, in every district, in every state,” Hernández said. “Understanding and reeling with that was very emotional for me, but I also was cognizant that I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be a queer person and wake up to the news of that shooting.”
Hernández’s class studies freedom movements such as the fight for Palestinian liberation, the work of the Black Panther Party and the Stonewall Riots, the last of which are often pointed to as the foundation for the modern-day LGBTQ+ rights movement.
The week of the Club Q shooting, Hernández's class was studying queer history, as well as ways to support marginalized groups. After discussing their shared rage and sadness over the shooting, students suggested writing letters directly to victims and families of those who died.
“We have to take a very clear stance about what kind of society we want to be a part of,” Hernández said. “I deeply want to be part of a society where that’s not something that happens again.”
Hernández knows his class could have written letters to legislators asking for stricter gun laws, but he explained that healing is just as important as fighting, which is why he specifically assigned letters in solidarity with victims.