Michael Anderson, 25, appeared before the House Oversight Committee during Wednesday’s hearing, which was titled “The Rise of Anti-LGBTQI+ Extremism and Violence in the United States.” Anderson said he was working at Club Q on the night a gunman brought an AR-15-style weapon into the club. Five people were killed in the shooting and more than a dozen others were injured.

“Hate speech turns into hate action, and actions based on hate almost took my life from me at 25 years old,” Anderson told the committee. “I beg you all to consider your words before you speak them, for someone may use those words to justify action—action that may take someone’s life.”

Anderson went on to say that “events like this are designed to discourage us from speaking and living our truth” and “to scare us from living openly, courageously and proudly.” He urged his fellow members of the LGBTQI+ community to “not succumb to fear” before acknowledging children who may have tuned in for his testimony.

“To the children watching this, feeling like you may not be like the other kids, I understand you and I see you. You deserve to be exactly who you are, no matter what anyone else has to say,” he said.

Anderson then quoted “Beautiful,” the hit song Aguilera released in 2002.

“In the words of my personal icon, Christina Aguilera, ‘You are beautiful no matter what they say,’” Anderson said. “‘Words can’t bring you down, so don’t let them bring you down today.’”

Newsweek has reached out to Aguilera’s record label for comment.

Club Q’s founding owner, Matthew Haynes, and survivor James Slaugh also testified Wednesday. Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis also delivered remarks, which the organization shared on social media. GLAAD later shared a clip of Anderson quoting Aguilera’s song on Twitter.

The hearing was held to “examine how the surge of anti-LGBTQI+ policies advanced by Republican lawmakers and the proliferation of extreme anti-LGBTQI+ rhetoric are fueling a rise in violence against LGBTQI+ people in the United States,” according to the House Oversight Committee.

In her opening remarks, Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney said the November 19 shooting at Club Q “represents an attack on all sacred places for LGBTQI+ people across the country that offer the promise of community and refuge from rampant bigotry.”

The shooting “is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader trend of violence and intimidation across our country,” she said.

Anderson later said in his remarks that an “epidemic of domestic terrorism and violence” emerged in the U.S. after the assault weapons ban of 1994 expired under former President George W. Bush. Anderson thanked President Joe Biden for calling for the legislation to be reinstated and urged members of Congress to support those efforts.

“The time to do something is now,” Anderson said. “What needs to be done is placing the lives of children and adults above our unhealthy obsession with assault rifles. And you are some of the ones who can make a difference.”