Club Q employees, owner disagree over how to distribute GoFundMe donations

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Employees at Club Q, the LGBTQ+ club in Colorado Springs where a shooter killed five people and injured dozens more in November, are asking the club's owner to release money from an internal GoFundMe that is being used to support employees as well as cover rebuilding costs.

In a letter sent to Club Q owner Matthew Haynes on Monday, employees said they have not received anything raised from the official Club Q GoFundMe. All the money they’ve received, employees in the letter said, came from the Colorado Healing Fund, the Good Judy Garage GoFundMe, and other supportive funds, while the internal lump of money seems to sit dormant.

The letter specifically asks Haynes to release 75% of funds to employees and contractors and allow employees and contractors to distribute funds in a system they developed amongst themselves.

“He keeps telling us it’s coming but he hasn’t told us how,” said Hysteria Brooks, a Denver-based drag queen employed by Club Q. “He’s trying to put a price tag on someone’s trauma, and you can't do that”

Haynes said he plans to distribute three months of employees’ salaries to them on Friday, Feb. 15 which he feels is what GoFundMe's explicitly stated purpose is.

“The entire purpose of that fund, as stated on the fund, was just to provide a wage supplement for the folks,” Haynes said in an interview with Rocky Mountain PBS. “People have specifically chosen that fund because they want to participate in a tribute and want to participate in bringing Club Q back to the community.”

The GoFundMe page states the money will be used “to ensure the Club Q staff and entertainers don’t suffer financial hardship due to this horrific act,” and “go towards the total remodel of Club Q, the construction of an appropriate memorial for our victims and a small museum onsite.”

Under those parameters, Haynes felt three months’ salary was fair, especially as victims and other staff members receive help from other fundraising efforts.

“Our GoFundMe is very, very clear, and it has been very, very clear from the beginning,” Haynes said. “Club Q is not an operating business at the moment. We have no funds, and we are being drained of monthly expenses, as those are not covered by the fund.”

But employees felt medical bills, mental health support and paid time off to grieve should be covered under the “financial hardship,” listed on the page.

“If we were in a situation where our stage broke down or the lights fell down or there was a hole in the ceiling, what they’re offering us would be reasonable, but because this was literally a mass shooting, there is all types of trauma,” said Tiara Kelley, another drag performer who performed at Club Q. “For [Haynes] to come here now and tell us that we’re not worthy of what we feel we deserved is just wild.”

Erika Unger, an attorney with Denver-based social justice law firm Bread and Roses, said Club Q staff members were under the impression the GoFundMe would be used to support them, with surplus resources being used to rebuild the bar.

“I think the overwhelming perception and what folks were relying on was that they would be taken care of first and the people that made Club Q what it was would be taken care of,” Unger said. “I think there were a lot of folks that relied on [Haynes] telling them they would be taken care of, and that’s not ultimately what’s happening.”

While some recovery costs for victims may include tangible bills, Unger said grief has no price, and employees deserve the necessary finances required to grieve while they cannot work a traditional job due to the trauma they’ve experienced.

“They’ve lost loved ones and their sense of safety and insecurity has been shattered. Many are incurring additional medical bills, many are physically and emotionally afraid to work,” Unger said. “Those employees know what they need, and I think it’s important for anyone raising funds to put it in the hands of those impacted without qualification.”

Even if Haynes releases the funds on Friday, Brooks said she and others do not plan to accept it unless Haynes distributes at least 75% of the proceeds to employees, with the leftover 25% used to support the bar’s reconstruction.

“The people that donated that money donated it in good faith that we were going to be taken care of,” Brooks said. “Although that type of distribution in funds would've worked in any other scenario, this was a mass shooting.”

While he is worked with law enforcement agencies in watching security video, Haynes said he’s dealt with “unspeakable trauma,” and feels the fight over pay is “revictimization.”

“I do not want to get into the fray of this, but it is unfortunate that there are folks that are looking to serve their interest and feel the need to attack,” Haynes said. “For this level of hate and self serving to come out of a community is very, very sad and distasteful.”

Alison Berg is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at alisonberg@rmpbs.org.