Kim Petras has paid tribute to the victims of a shooting at an LGBTQ club in Colorado this weekend.
The German-born, US-based pop singer was presenting the nominees for best pop song at the American Music Awards yesterday (November 20), when she took a moment to remember the victims of a shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs the night before, which left five people dead and 25 injured.
“I can’t stop thinking about Colorado today,” the singer said. “Gay clubs raised me, basically. And I can confidently say that no one loves pop music more than gay clubs. So, my heart goes out to you.”
Petras recently became the first trans singer to top the Billboard 100 after featuring on Sam Smith‘s song ‘Unholy’, with the latter becoming the first openly non-binary artist to achieve the same accolade.
Other artists also spoke about the shooting during the awards evening – where Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, BTS and Harry Styles were among the winners – including Wayne Brady and Dove Cameron.
Cameron, who won new artist of the year, dedicated her award to the queer community.
“On the heels of the tragedy that happened at Club Q in Colorado Springs, I want to remind everyone how important queer visibility is, and how important our community is,” she said.
“And I want to direct your attention to organisations like GLAAD and The Trevor Project for what you can do right now. I want to remind you that you are made absolutely right, and you are so loved and so held, and I want to thank you for supporting me. Thank you for holding the space – I’m holding it for you, too.”
Chief of the Colorado Springs police department, Adrian Vasquez, said in a news conference yesterday morning (November 20), that the shooting suspect had been identified as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich.
