2026 NYC Pride Guide - Magazine - Page 21
GAYS AGAINST GUNS, a direct-action group of LGBTQIA+ people nonviolently
challenging gunviolence, was founded in direct response to the loss of 49
lives at Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016. Two weeks later, in a powerful
symbol of solidarity and call for change, they rallied 1,000 activists for a
“die-in” in the NYC Pride March. Gays Against Guns said:
“We’re deeply honored to be named a Grand Marshal for NYC Pride. Ten
years after our first Pride March, we are still grounded in the belief that visibility, public grief, and direct action can save lives. We show up as a visible
reminder of the far too many lives lost to gun violence. Pride is rooted in
protest, and this moment calls for continued direct action in the face of a
simple truth:
“when hate is allowed to persist, queer lives are at risk.”
DRIVEN. ACTIONABLE. EFFECTIVE.
Reflect on your personal connection to the
2026 NYC Pride theme, “For All of Us”, a
direct reference to the famous Marsha P.
Johnson quote, “There’s no pride for some
of us without liberation for all of us” - what
does that mean to you, and why do you think
it resonates right now.
At Gays Against Guns, that
belief is not abstract. It is something we act on together, in
public. Our work began in 2016,
just two weeks after the Pulse
nightclub massacre, when we
organized a die-in along the
NYC Pride March.
“We bring the names of those
who have died into the streets
because silence protects the
conditions that take lives,” says
Jay W. Walker. “If this is going
to be ‘for all of us,’ then we
have to be honest about who is
still being lost.”
Gays Against Guns Members
Sarah Germain Lilly, John
Grauwiler, Kevin Herzog, Cathy
Marino-Thomas, Kimberly Miller,
Josh Tjaden, and Jay W. Walker gathered to reflect on the
group’s connection to the 2026
NYC Pride theme, “For All of
Us” and its relevance to the
history and future of building a
future of liberation for all.
That moment shaped everything that followed.
“There’s an emotional and stark
shift that takes place when a
passerby sees a Human Being,”
adds John Grauwiler. “It reminds them of what has been
lost and, hopefully, activates
them to think about their role in
what happens next.”
“For All of Us” feels like both a
truth and a challenge. It reminds us that liberation has
never been evenly shared, and
that it only becomes real when
it reaches those most at risk.
“We didn’t wait. We couldn’t,”
says Kevin “Mother” Herzog.
“Two weeks after Pulse, we
were in the streets at Pride,
lying down in a die-in. It was
grief, it was rage, it was love.
That’s still who we are.”
That spirit continues through
the Gays Against Guns ‘Human
Beings’. Veiled and silent, they
hold the presence of those lost
to gun violence. It is not symbolic. It asks people to stop, to
witness, and to feel.
Right now, the theme resonates
because it calls for collective
accountability. “For All of Us” is
not passive. It asks what we are
willing to do for one another.
NYCPRIDE.ORG
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