COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — One of the people who died at Club Q is being remembered as a "trans mother" by other people in the transgender community.
Kelly Loving is described by friends as a fearless and supportive mentor in her trans community.
Loving had just moved to Colorado a month ago, according to her longtime friend Natalee Skye Bingham. Bingham said Loving's trip to Club Q was unusual for her, because she usually preferred to stay home.
"She was showing me her outfit in the bathroom at Club Q and then she was saying that she wanted to go grab a drink," Bingham said.
Loving FaceTimed Bingham from the club bathroom three minutes before the shooting began. She told Bingham she'd call her back after grabbing a drink.
During Loving's final minutes at Club Q, she was FaceTiming with Bingham. Loving promised to call her back after grabbing a drink at the bar.
"And when the phone call ended at 11:53 p.m. I never heard back from her," Bingham said.
Three minutes after Loving's last call, police said, the shooter started firing.
The next day, Bingham got the call she hoped she would not receive.
"And I was like, 'Don't tell me. Don't tell me. Don't tell me. It's true. Don't tell me she was one of them,'" Bingham said.
Bingham lost not only a friend of seven years, but someone who helped guide her.
She described Loving as a confident and bright spirit and credits Loving for helping her to become the woman she is today.
"She was like my trans-mother. You know, in the gay community, we congregate together to create our families, and some of us are disowned, or just not welcomed. I looked up to Kelly as if she was my own mother," Bingham said.
She said she will cherish Loving for teaching her to stay confident and truthful to who she is.
"She was fearless. She was a welcoming person. She would give you the shirt off her back, if you were asking for it, or the last dollar to her name, she would give it to you. She would give anything and everything to anyone," Bingham said.
At the moment when they said goodbye to each other, Bingham didn't know it would be the last moment they shared.
"It's so crazy because you never know when your last day is. In the last words, I told her, 'Be safe, I love you,'" Bingham said.
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