11/27/2022
♥️
• CW: Giving them their flowers today.
Raymond Green Vance, 22
Daniel Davis Aston, 28
Ashley Paugh, 35
Derrick Rump, 38
Kelly Loving, 40
I feel that paying tribute to these sacred lives is my collective responsibility. But they are hard to continue create. I have decided to create my first visual tributes to the youngest and the heart of the Colorado Spring victims. This was an act of terror. But we can’t continue to let hate win.
After my sons parent teacher conference yesterday, I spent the afternoon researching each life and name. I was emotionally exhausted after reading their stories of love, authenticity and community.
Daniel Davis Aston, 28 was a bartender at Club Q, a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community. According to articles I’ve read and info shared by the family, He loved poetry, the arts and culture, He was a sacred trans man and had spent his life being loved by his family. He moved back from Oklahoma to Colorado Springs to be closer to them. He stayed there at the bar every night trying to talk them into letting him have a job there and Club Q hired him. The photo I used of him was shared publicly via his page and was so beautiful as it shows him touching his healing scars after his top surgery.
Derrick Rump, 38
Derrick was a bartender and co-owner of the Club Q, he was honest, transparent and bold. He served his patrons with love and solidarity. According to friends, Derrick was welcoming and a person who made others feel safe, understood and accepted. Daniel Aston and Derrick Rump fostered community for many LGBTQIA+ people in Colorado Springs who needed it.
Raymond Green Vance, 22, an LGTBQIA ally, was there at Club Q with his girlfriend and her family celebrating a friend’s birthday. When the terrorist began shooting, Raymond saved his girlfriend’s life before loosing his own by the attack. His girlfriend’s Father, a military vet, alongside a trans woman saved many lives while taking down the terrorist in a true act of bravery.
My heart is heavy. Please support these families as they’re now grieving and processing loss. We have permission to be angry and act in radical softness.
