| dbo:abstract |
Gays Against Guns (GAG) is a direct action group of LGBTQ people committed to ending gun violence through nonviolent means, civil disobedience, and activism. The group was founded by Kevin Hertzog, Brian Worth and John Grauwiler in 2016, as a result of the Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando, Florida which had killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in a mass shooting. It is the deadliest incident of violence against LGBTQ people in U.S. history and the deadliest terrorist attack in the U.S. since the September 11 attacks in 2001. Two weeks after the June 2016 attack, a group of activists presented a large banner made by Gilbert Baker, inventor of the rainbow flag, stating “Gays Against Guns”, and led the New York City LGBT Pride March. Their contingent of 750 marchers, plus 49 veiled in white, staged die-ins along the 5th Avenue route and introduced their “Human Beings”, people dressed in white with white veils representing the gun violence victims. They also had a second massive banner stating "Republican Hate Kills." Within two months the group had over 300 New York City members, and chapters in nine cities across the U.S. They were going to go after gun manufacturers, including Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co. the two largest gun companies, gun lobbyists, their shareholders, and corporate backers. In an October 2017 Teen Vogue op-ed, GAG's social media director posited that gun violence is a disease that can be treated and cured. (en) |
