All of us can remember when we heard the news about the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. We were overcome by the enormity and horror of the developing situation as we started to hear the names of the victims and learn about their lives. Our safe space - the gay club - had been invaded by a gunman with a semi-automatic weapon - a gun he bought legally.
That night he killed 49 people, wounded 53 more and changed the lives of countless others in its aftermath. The worst mass shooting in modern American history. This senseless act shook our world.
And just this month, another shooter walked into Club Q in Colorado Springs and shot dead 5 people and injured many more. Again, our community is under attack. And in this country, this hate and bigotry is heavily armed.
Pulse was a catalyst. Within days the LGBTQ Community Center in New York City became ground zero for angry queer activists who were enraged, frightened and grieving. Birthed by veteran AIDS and Marriage Equality activists, Gays Against Guns, or GAG, launched. GAG organized fearless and creative in-your-face protests to demand stricter gun laws and break the long bloody legacy of guns in America.
One of those activists who joined the early team was celebrated filmmaker Paul Rowley who has been filming with GAG since their very first Pride march in 2016. There, GAG shocked the normally boisterous crowd into silence with their simple elegant and devastating renderings of the 49 murdered Pulse patrons known as Human Beings or HB’s. GAG’s uniformly placed white veiled marchers, carrying placards representing the gun victims, led the New York Times coverage of Pride that year. GAG quickly became the US gun lobby's most dynamic and surprising opponent.
Work on the film has continued over the past six years, chronicling the bright, bold and brilliant activism - tactics forged during the AIDS crisis and the fight for Marriage Equality - along with deeply moving survivor stories. Aptly titled, GAYS AGAINST GUNS, the feature documentary is now close to completion.
Funded entirely out of the filmmakers’ pockets, what is needed now is finishing funds to complete the movie. These include sound mixing, footage licensing, color grading, legal fees, and insurance. Basically everything the filmmakers can’t do themselves.
The rough cut of the film is being submitted to festivals right now with the goal to start screening in early 2023. So we plan to complete this final production work in December.
Horrific gun atrocities continue to plague us. We are asking for a tax deductible donation toward finishing the film. The team needs about $40,000 to bring GAYS AGAINST GUNS to the world at large. If you could find it in your heart, and your year-end budget, a donation would go a long way to further the battle for stronger gun laws in the United States.
Your contribution would be completely tax deductible as Gays Against Guns is a non-profit 501c3 organization and serves as the fiscal sponsor of the film.
Thank you!
About the filmmaker: Paul Rowley has been making films for over 20 years. His most recent short THE RED TREE unearthed the buried history of Mussolini’s prison island for gay men. It was the audience award winner at New Fest the NY LGBQT+ Film Festival, and is now streaming on the Criterion Channel. More about Paul here: