By Aida Lashinsky /
Central Florida’s LGBTQ community will protest the lax gun laws in the country on October 8 as members of the community march behind the rainbow banner at Lake Eola Park in Orlando during the “Come Out With Pride” parade. They will be holding photographs of the Pulse shooting victims.
Inspired by the Gays Against Guns organization in New York (that formed in response to the Pulse shooting), the local community is forming Gays Against Guns (GAG)-Orlando, and will march under this new name. The parallel groups aim to combat the National Rifle Association and the corporations who profit from the sale of weapons that kill over 20,000 Americans each year. They are standing together opposing the easy with whiche automatic weapons are accessed by non-military personnel.
“Florida is saturated with semi-automatic weapons that have one purpose: to kill as many people as possible. These guns were not made for hunting or personal defense, but to kill people on a battlefield,” explained GAG-Orlando coordinator Mark McMeley.
GAG-Orlando will coordinate with Equality Florida, Team Watermark, Organize Now and Ban Them.The groups hope to stage future peaceful protests. The coalition invites those who may be interested in supporting their efforts to contact them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter at @gagorlando or e-mail them at gagorlando@gmail.com so that they may join in the movement.
“Homophobia and automatic weapons are killing us,” said McMeley. “We will fight back. We want to live.”
