Our hearts, prayers, and cries for justice are with the entire Tucson LGBTQ+ community as they mourn the lives of Vincent Anthony Siqueiros (42) and Cameron Davis Capara (33), who were killed outside Venture-N.
Venture-N is a longtime LGBTQ+ gathering space, and we know that bars, clubs, churches, and other community spaces are so much more than places to gather for the queer and trans communities. They offer sanctuary, a sanctuary where people can explore, play, connect, and allow their most authentic selves to be free; a place where someone else’s authenticity sparks something in their own hearts.
For generations, spaces like Venture-N, have been where we find one another, organize for change, celebrate who we are, and experience the true freedom of belonging.
This shooting is being investigated as a hate crime, and it is particularly painful to see one of our own targeted yet again. People in the LGBTQ+ community have been targeted for far too long. We know this grief differently, deep in our own bones. We deserve places to gather safely. We deserve places to celebrate loudly. We deserve to live openly and without fear of violence because of who we are or where we find community or whom we chose to love.
At MCCGSL, and as people of faith, we believe that creating spaces of safety, connection, visibility, and joy is essential to creating a better world where everyone can truly belong. I know this is why we do the work we do. I know this is why we gather. It is why we believe so strongly in the power of living as our authentic selves. It is why we are advocates for justice. It is why we will never be silent on matters of injustice.
Our gathering together matters. Our continuing to organize matters. Our presence matters.
And it is okay to exist in the both/and of this life. We can cry out for justice. We can mourn. We can be angry. We can be mad. And we can still dance. We can still hope. We can still laugh and love. We can still choose joy. We can still believe that fear, violence, and hatred will never have the last say in this world.
May we continue to fiercely protect our sacred spaces, care for one another, and refuse to allow hate to diminish our joy and visibility.
We are each other’s keepers. We are each other’s friends, family, and lovers. We will continue to be a force of love in this world. We will continue to work for justice until tragedies like these are no longer. May it be so.
We send our love and solidarity to Vincent and Cameron’s loved ones, the Tucson LGBTQ+ community, and everyone whose sense of safety has been shaken by this tragedy. Know that your pastoral staff and our wider Saint Louis Community is here for you.
In the grief and hope of this one wild and precious life,
Pastor Eli