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Colorado Springs

One of the things that I have learned over the years is that in the face of tragedy most details of news reports are incorrect in the immediate aftermath; nonetheless it seems clear that a number of trans folk were shot and killed in Colorado Springs this weekend and that it was a hate crime.

In my sheltered life I have always heard that trans folk face the most physically dangerous prejudice, that they are the most likely of folk to be the victims of hate crimes. Hate and fear of trans folk abound, encouraged by hatemongers in elected office and in the media. They will of course disavow any responsibility for this latest violence, because they are irresponsible to the core, like folk who drive blindfolded without "intending" to kill anyone.

Trans folk were created in the image of God, and remain in the image of God. This is part of my core belief.

May all the people of God support those grieving this latest tragedy (the present), support efforts to find and punish those responsible (the past), and loudly oppose the hatemongers for treating God's children as less than citizens, less than family members, less than friends, less than neighbors, less than coworkers, less than human (the future).

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