Gays Vs The NRA: 50 LGBT Groups Sign Pledge To Back Gun Control Reform Legislation (But Not HRC)

In the wake of the Orlando nightclub massacre, a coalition of 50 groups – most of them LGBT – have signed onto a pledge to pressure lawmakers to enact gun control reform measures. Conspicuously absent from the list of signatories is the Human Rights Campaign. Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade:

The organizations issue the joint statement as congressional Democrats seek to force a vote on an assault weapons ban and a “No Fly, No Buy” measure prohibiting individuals on the “no-fly list” from purchasing firearms.

But a look at the list of organizations reveals the Human Rights Campaign isn’t among them. An HRC spokesperson deferred to HRC President Chad Griffin’s remarks during a news conference on Sunday in response to a Washington Blade inquiry on why the organization is absent from the list.

“During this, their darkest hour, we as a nation must be their strength,” Griffin said at the time. “We must be their comfort, and we must promise that the memory of those they lost will never, ever fade. Love really does conquer hate. And today, I pray for love to also conquer sorrow. And let’s not forget that what made this hate so deadly – is that it’s still far too easy for dangerous people to get their hands on guns in our country.

See the list of groups here.

In a separate action, 122 LGBT Centers have issued a similar pledge:



The mass killing in Orlando has given the anti-gun movement a powerful new ally: gays.

“The gay community is well organized and extremely resourceful,” Dave Garcia, political director of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, told TheWrap. “There’s that expression: ‘Don’t wake a sleeping dog.’ I think they just woke up the gay dog.”

Garcia was one of many gay leaders who signed an open letter this week calling for a renewed commitment to the fight for stricter gun laws. Organizers managed to get representatives of 122 LGBT centers — which together serve 2.2 million people — to sign the letter in less than 24 hours.

The killing of 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub has mobilized the gay community against gun violence — giving the anti-gun movement, which stalled in its fight with the National Rifle Association, an infusion of new blood.

The question now is whether LGBT activists will be able to re-create the incredible success they had fighting for gay marriage.