Read This! Our Town Hall Recap | Event Recap
Photo: Jackie Rudin
Thanks to EVERYONE who came to our Town Hall in response to the Parkland shooting yesterday!
In case you couldn’t make it, here’s a recap of what was discussed and what was proposed: First, a huge “FUCK YEAH!” to the AMAZING Alex Clavering, organizer of March For Our Lives NYC, for coming and speaking to us about the status of the planing for that student-led event, which takes place on March 24th.
He and his colleagues asked us to ALL follow them on social media to build excitement and get the numbers as high as possible. Here are the handles:
Facebook = NYC March For Our Lives
Twitter = @March4livesNYC
Instagram = @NYCMarchForOurLives
you can email them at marchforourlives@gmail.com .
Currently, there are already 40,000 people following their page on Facebook, but let’s ALL show them our support by following them and amplifying their message!
We also took a show of hands to see how many attendees were interested in going to D.C. to participate in the March For Our Lives there, and we saw MANY hands in the air. So check back in with us as we continue to make arrangements for that trip.
But even before that event, there’s the National Walkout on March 14th, which is being organized by students in conjunction with The Women’s March Youth Caucus, including our dear friend Kim Parker Russell, who came and spoke with Kalaeb, one of the students who’s organizing that event.
Follow them on
Twitter @WomensMarchY
Instagram @WomensMarchYouth
They informed us that the walk-out will take place between 10:00am - 10:17am: the 17 minutes symbolizing the 17 people who were murdered in Parkland.
They currently have 950 schools participating, which speaks volumes about how dedicated their organization is to supporting this effort.
They’d like us to jam the phone lines in Washington D.C. during the 17 minutes of the walk-out, so that’s something that ANYONE can do, whether you’re walking out or not!
In addition, The Women’s March Youth is also sponsoring a full day walk-out on April 20th, which is the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, and that one also starts at 10:00am.
Their Twitter account is @schoolwalkoutus
They’re encouraging us all to wear orange that day, which is the gun violence prevention (GVP) movement’s signifying color.
When Gays Against Guns first formed, we didn’t know of any other GVP group that practiced direct action and civil disobedience regularly.
One of our goals, within the movement, was to make our dynamic and confrontational actions more commonplace. Just this week we’ve become aware of two different organizations who are ALSO using these time-tested methods, and we could not be more appreciative of them.
The first one was mentioned at the meeting and is staging an action which will definitely be attended by some GAG members. It’s a group called Demand The Ban, and it’s taking place on Wednesday, March 21st starting at 10:00am in Philadelphia.
They’re gathering at Arch Street Friends Meeting House at 4th and Arch Streets and proceeding to Senator Toomey’s office at 11:00am.
Please send us an email at info@gaysagainstguns.net if you’d be interested in joining that action, and if there are enough replies we’ll arrange for transportation.
There will be a civil disobedience component, but you need not risk arrest to participate. Here’s the website: www.demandtheban.org/march-21st The other organization that came to our attention is called Drain The NRA. They’re all about calling for boycotts of the gun industry, and its corporate partners, and targeting the politicians it pays off.
They’re our spiritual twin! We’ve reached out to them, and so should YOU! There don’t seem to be any upcoming actions planned by them at this time, but we have high hopes for partnering with them in the future! Here’s their website : www.drainthenra.com
And we also want to thank New York City’s Public Advocate, Letitia James, for speaking to us about her experiences with gun violence, both professionally and personally.
Tish has been the MOST stalwart political supporter Gays Against Guns has had, and she’s instrumental in getting us permits for our NYC actions, and making sure that our demonstrations happen in a safe and accessible manner. We could never thank her enough for her continued support! Finally we’d like to invite ALL of you to our next meeting, which will be Thursday, March 1st, from 7:00-9:00pm, once again at The Center (208 W 13th Street in Manhattan).
We’ll have more information about these student-led actions, and we’ll also be planning our own GAG “next-steps”, in order to extend this newfound enthusiasm for gun reform!
Change is in the air - and here at GAG we’ve always said that, together, we really CAN CHANGE THINGS!!!
Download the notes here For more information please visit our website: www.gaysagainstguns.net
