Gays Against Guns to Storm Fire Island on Sunday to Set Stage for Fall Campaign

Tim Murphy, my pal and member of the headline-grabbing new activist organization Gays Against Guns, says the group will be out in force on Fire Island to drum up support this Sunday, including a re-creation of its moving white-veiled tribute to Orlando victims on the beaches and boardwalks of the Pines and Cherry Grove:

On Sunday, July 3, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. 100 members of Gays Against Guns, the new direct-action group fighting for an assault-weapons ban and other gun-control laws, will descend on the LGBTQ summer havens of the Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove to build membership and funds for an election-season campaign targeting the National Rifle Association and its bought-and-sold, bad-conscience puppets in Congress.   

The group will have tables in the commercial hearts of both the Pines and Cherry Grove all day. In addition, the group will restage its white-veiled tribute to the 49 LGBTQ victims of the Orlando Pulse massacre, which made the front page of the July 27 New York Times.

At 1 p.m., 49 ghostly figures will solemnly walk the length of Pines beach at the height of sunning hours, then, at 6pm, will walk the boardwalk from Cherry Grove to the Pines, to stand silently before throngs of dancing revelers at the Pines' traditional nightly "low tea" bash--a reminder that the Orlando victims were also merely dancing and having fun when they were shot down by a civilian with an assault weapon. 

The Fire Island events are meant to extend the energy from last Sunday's March, when up to 750 GAG marchers enjoined tens of thousands of onlookers to join them in the chants, "Hey hey, ho ho, the NRA has got to go!" and, often, the blunter "F*ck the NRA!" Said GAG cofounder Kevin Hertzog, "The reception we got at Pride was so overwhelming, we all canceled our July 4 plans to come out swinging and build our base and our budget while the iron is hot. We're working on a campaign that may begin as soon as this weekend and we want to loop thousands more in before the anger and grief from Orlando wanes and we get complacent before the inevitable next AR-15 massacre." 

"We like our acronym because it makes us gag in disgust that the NRA has bought off enough politicians that Congress can't even pass a ban on mass-death weapons like the ban it had until 2004," said cofounder John Grauwiler. "We just read that an Orlando gun shop is going to raffle off an AR-15 to raise money for the Orlando 49's survivors. Does it get any more fucked-up than that?"

The answer, of course, is no.

Learn more about Gays Against Guns HERE.

Also, I'm told they still need people to help out on Sunday and for a separate event on Monday on Long Island. If interested/available, please email gaginducers@gmail.com with either subject line I'M FREE ON FIRE ISLAND SUNDAY or I'M FREE MONDAY. xo