Nic Grzecka, right, co-owner of Club Q, hugs a supporter after a 25-foot historic pride flag was unfurled to cover the exterior of City Hall to mark the weekend mass shooting at the gay nightclub on Nov.
19. (David Zalubowski/Associated Press) Religious right retains a strong presence in Colorado Springs even as city becomes more progressive SAM METZ and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When officials unfurled a 25-foot rainbow flag in front of Colorado Springs City Hall last week, people gathered to mourn the victims of a mass shooting at a popular gay club couldn’t help but reflect on how such a display of support would have been unthinkable just days earlier.
With a growing and diversifying population, the city nestled at the foothills of the Rockies is a patchwork of disparate social and cultural fabrics.
It’s a place full of art shops and breweries; megachurches and military bases; a liberal arts college and the Air Force Academy.