Who are Gays Against Guns?

Set up in the aftermath of the 2016 Pulse shootings in Orlando, when 49 queer nightclubbers were slaughtered, GAG has become a prominent organisation in the struggle to introduce stricter gun control laws in the United States.

Young LGBTQ+ people see gay clubs as sanctuaries and the bloody attack at Pulse was like the violation of a church, sending shockwaves through queer communities across America.

It was time to mobilise.

The documentary filmmaker, Paul Rowley, has followed the group’s activities for nine years, personally recording protests and actions against all those who support and aid the sale of guns.

Growing up in Ireland during “The Troubles”, Rowley is no stranger to gun violence, but he stresses that unlike other countries which acted swiftly to ban firearms after mass shootings, the US clings blindly to the Second Amendment, allowing almost any adult to own and carry a gun unchecked, with the result that there are over 40,000 gun deaths per year in America.

One of GAG’s first and continuing forms of protest was the concept of “The Human Beings”. During an annual Pride March, 49 participants, eerily dressed in white clothes and white veils, silently carrying placards with photographs and details of each of the Pulse victims, made the front page of the New York Times. This ghostly manifestation has been repeated at events and demonstrations since 2016 and has been extended to include the dead from all gun attacks.

In contrast to “The Human Beings”, GAG also aims to be outrageous, theatrical, and witty in its approach. “Guns are fake butch” is one of the slogans of Queens of the Night, a drag sub-group. Although always peaceful, arrests are expected at protests and are often necessary to draw media attention.

Rowley’s documentary is well structured and informative. It is accurate about the vile history of guns in the USA, the role of the National Rifle Association, the legacy of gay rights and AIDs activism, political opportunism, financial gain, and the disastrous end to the Assault Weapons Ban in 2004. Facts and figures are bluntly shared, but individual human tragedies are not forgotten.

Interspersed with live footage, the film regularly returns to poignant interviews with the friends and families of those affected by gun violence. In particular, the eloquent mother of murdered black trans teenager Bailey, and gay activist survivor Antonius.

Gun suicides are discussed, with queer people being four times more likely to take their own lives than the rest of the population. When guns are at hand, those suicide attempts are irreversible.

But GAG does not solely advocate for queer people. Its mission is to make America safe for all. GAG regularly turns up at the NRA, at the Senate and Congress, at the homes of politicians who support current gun laws, at the headquarters of businesses that aid and abet weapons manufacture, and most dangerously, at gun fairs. They have joined women’s marches, protests over school shootings, and demonstrations by people of colour.

Two of its successes have been the disassociation of Wells Fargo and FedEx from the NRA when previously these companies were supporting the organisation financially, in one way or another.

In what seems an impossible struggle, one glimmer of hope was the fall in NRA membership in 2025, resulting in the sale of approximately $40 million in assets.

This very personal documentary ends with a memorial event for Pulse. Since 2016, during the 9 years of making this film, over 400,000 gun deaths have been registered in the United States. 

Gays Against Guns premiered at the recent Dublin Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award, and will be in theatres in June to mark the 10th anniversary of the Pulse massacre.