After a shooting in Colorado Springs, the community comes together to protect LGBTQ+ members.

There was no AA meeting at the Epiphany Lutheran & Episcopal Church in Marina on Monday, Nov. 21, because the space was urgently needed for another purpose. At 6pm, with darkness deepening outside, about 80 community members gathered in the warm, beautiful sanctuary to grieve after a shooting on Nov. 19 at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs left five people dead and 25 injured.

The event was put together on a short notice by local Pride organizations and Pastor Jon Perez. “We don’t always align,” Pastor Perez said, invoking Monterey Peninsula Pride, Salinas Valley Pride Celebrations, and The Epicenter, a youth-run Salinas organization involved in LGBTQ+ issues. “But tonight, we are one family.”

Monterey mayor-elect Tyller Williamson spoke first in a line of local elected officials, followed by Monterey County sheriff-elect Tina Nieto, County Supervisor Chris Lopez, Marina City Councilmember Lisa Berkley, Seaside City Councilmember Alexis García-Arrazola, Salinas City Councilmember Anthony Rocha, and others.

“It fills my heart to see so many faces,” Williamson said to a teary crowd. Of the shooting, he said: “This is not something we can accept. This is a perfect example of the challenges the LGBTQ community is facing. We are going to stand together.”

Williamson will become Monterey’s first openly gay mayor. Nieto, who spoke after him, will become the county’s first openly gay sheriff.

“The hate needs to stop,” Nieto said on behalf of local law enforcement.

“Monterey County belongs to all of us,” Lopez said, expressing his gratitude to all that gathered at this “space of healing,” reminding them: “This county is for all of us.”

“I fear for many who are not here today,” García-Arrazola said. “They are afraid to come out because things like [the shooting] happen.”

Sam Gomez from The Epicenter described all five Colorado Springs victims, calling them by their names. Other community members offered prayers, poems and remarks. Many shared tears and others observed that the tragedy was announced to them on the morning of Transgender Day of Remembrance, Nov. 20.

Both Perez and Marina United Methodist Church Pastor Angel Rivero assured the community that their version of Christianity doesn’t judge people based on whom they chose to love.

“It’s just so sad, so outrageous that people who chose to freely assemble were murdered,” says State Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, who is also gay. “What is doubly shocking is that the shooter was a grandson of a member of the California State Legislature.”

The suspected shooter, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, is the grandson of Assemblymember Randy Voepel, R-Santee, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Voepel, a Vietnam War veteran, is serving the last days of his term after losing his bid for reelection in 2022. The right-leaning legislator was criticized for remarks he made following the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

“We commit to continuing to bring policies forward to save the lives of our community,” the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus said in a tweet. “Our hearts are with Colorado.”