A group of LGBTQ advocates responded to Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas by taking to the streets of New York in a poignant display of solidarity.
More than 100 Gays Against Guns (GAG) protesters marched from Manhattan’s Union Square to Times Square Monday carrying banners and placards outlining their support for stronger gun control. “No more massacres! Fuck the [National Rifle Association],” many of the demonstrators shouted as they marched, as seen in the video above.
Based in New York, GAG is “committed to nonviolently breaking the gun industry’s chain of death—investors, manufacturers, the NRA and politicians who block strong gun laws.” The group formed last year in response to the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida that left 49 people, many of whom were people of color who identified as LGBTQ, dead.
Since then, members of the group have staged “die-in” protests at a number of events across the country in an effort to demonstrate support for gun control laws.
Activist Terry Roethlein told HuffPost that he and other GAG members were empowered by the turnout at Monday’s rally, held one day after 59 people were killed and over 500 wounded when Stephen Paddock opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. Read more via HuffPost
USQ, Gays Against Guns, rally and march to TSQ, now until 8. Gun violence is curable. #GaysAgainstGuns pic.twitter.com/9ALkE5f252
— Rise and Resist (@riseandresistny) October 2, 2017