How Australia Ended Regular Mass Shootings: Gun Reforms After 1996 Massacre Could Be Model for U.S.

Yes, gun control is possible. Lives can be saved. We need to ground ourselves in the practical, not the theoretical. Please click GAYS AGAINST GUNS  and read. Please share. Words are often spoken about how horrible the mass killings are. Particularly by politicians. Talk is cheap, actions matter. Australia made their essential organizing principle. They passed gun reforms. Why can't we? Pulse taught me one thing. Speak up. Take action. I joined Gays Against Guns. GAG is an inclusive direct action group. Together we can win 

How Australia Ended Regular Mass Shootings: Gun Reforms After 1996 Massacre Could Be Model for U.S. | Democracy Now!

Its Complicated: SATURDAY MARCH 24: DID IT(the story of Jerry Runin) author wil be at 4: at in a discussion of Jerry and the book .he wil be joined by Paul Krassner via skype

Some of you may know I was a founding member of Yippies. I was out in the left anti-war movement prior to the Stonewall Rebellion.  Homophobia was as virulent in the left as it was with the Right ..from the FBI to the Communist Party USA,  I, as some of you know do not like to be nostalgic ... or live in the past .. But I do think experience matters .. and the role of the elder to the youth is to be honest and not  romantic: to tell what we did and what I learned from those experiences, 

here is a little facebook chat that happened today Pat Thomas had asked me it I would join him and Paul Krassner  (who is one of my personal heroes) in the chat. I said yes. He said he would include me in the promotion of the event. But life went on after we agreed. the Parkland shootings took place and the KIDS stood up and shouted STOP IT! WE OPPOSE GUN VIOLENCE AND WANT A BAN ON ASSAULT WEAPONS, I decide to go to DC and support them instead of being at the book event.Here is a portion of the discussion that took place in a public stream on Facebook. I don't think you have to know all the references to understand the essence of the discussion

Pat Thomas Jim, please come and talk !

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Jim Fouratt To be honest Pat .. I gave considerable thought to what I would sat when I accepted your invitation to join you and Paul. After reading your book more closely. I realized that everything I said, that I thought was important to me that was critical about Jerry and Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo was left out of your book,,.. (absolutely your right !).. I realized that if I would talk about those things that it might rain on the Yippie spirit of the book.. . I asked myself what my role would be in the discussion. Since what I would say.wasn't in the book, so what. But it was only when the kids called for the demo against gun violence, that I decide to go to DC... I have been active in Gays Against Guns .. a direct action group that is inclusive of people who share our goals .. since it was formed right after the Pulse nightclub massacre.... We are marching in support of the kids and against gun violence and assault weapons. I trust it will be a fun reading

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Pat Thomas Jim, Judy Gumbo wasn’t left out of my book - not only was she interviewed in detail - she’s got a few pages that are specifically about her life story !

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Jim Fouratt Pat: i did not say Judy was left out .. far from it She is fully represented as I am not. If I was not clear .. let me be clear. I realized that everything I said to you,  that I thought was important to me that was critical about Jerry and Stew and Judy was left out of your book. I gave you a very long and detailed interview as one of the founders of YIPPIE. I talked of my experience of Jerry and Abbie and Stew and Judy.. I was critical of the role Jerry played and his homophobia. Stew and Judy were the same .. Jerry's use of speed/Ritalin etc. As to Judy ..she has been ruthless in her attacks on me. Her homophobia was worse than Jerry and Stew's and I feel has colored her reaction to me right up until current times. I choose to talk to you about this and other things I have learned from that time and centered my critique around Jerrym Stew and Judy ... I spoke of what  Emmet Grogan thought of them ..and of Abbie.. and then there was the breaking into my loft and the stealing of the Communication' Company's 'Gestetner machine.. It was a very long time ago but I have not forgotten. . I hope you will make clear that Dana Beal was NEVER a Yippie. Abbie and I and others never trusted him. In response Dana was a founding member of the ZIPPIES .. the politics of pot and cocaine dealing and its impact on the politics of Yippie and the spirit of Yippie.have yet to be talked about . . the relationship between Dana and Tom Forcade. The value sellout by Forcade, that implicated Wavey to Warner Brothers. I did describe to you what I saw in the park a the Convention in Miami,, I respect and like you Pat. I think you have a romantic idea of your cousin. It happens in families. Your book on many levels is important and the format is quite in the Yippie Spirit. But I am not in favor of the building of false myths .. I rather talk about the humanness of the people involved and their contradictions. We all tried to make a radical change.. My legacy I hope will be to tell my truth. Not to be romantic I owe that to the kids of today.

The People's State of the Union Hey, join your local RESISTANCE group and watch the PEOPLES STATE OF THE UNION

Hey,  join your local RESISTANCE group and watch the PEOPLES STATE OF THE UNION report  ..or invite some over some friends who did not vote and now wish they have and watch citizens committed ot taking back an America that knows diversity strengthens out Union mad equality for all makes America strong  Please share   watch people we recognize refuses to self-censor themselves and not afraid to speak and step up ... 

GAYS AGAINST GUNS protest TOM PRICE , Secretary of Health and Human Services at Federal Plaza

On Friday, September 22, 2017,  GAYS AGAINST GUNS demonstrated against TOM PRICE, Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services and his ogun violence policies. Know as an NRA Puppet, PRICE is also a homophobe, against same-sex civil marriage and has been cutting funds for mental health services.

On the steps of the FEDERAL PLAZA NYC at GAYS AGAINST GUNS demo  The PRICE IS the WRONG  against TOM PRICE, Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, NRA Puppet and homophobe  9-22-17

I was one of the four HUMAN BEINGS, white-shrouded figures who stand silent holding signs identifying GUN VIOLENCE victims.

GAG was founded right after the Pulse gay nightclub massacre. It is open to anyone of any sexual orientation and self-named identity  regardless of age or color or class are welcome to GAYS AGINST GUNS and its fight against GUN VIOLENCE and responsible gun control 

Human Beings stand as the spirits of those killed by GUN VIOLENCE as a die-in takes place of the steps of the FEDERAL PLAZA NYC at GAYS AGAINST GUNS  The PRICE IS the WRONG  demo against TOM PRICE, Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, NRA Puppet and homophobe 

Legendary Activists Rollerrena and Brent Earl Nickles join GAYS AGIST GUNS demo  against TOM PRICE and tell younger activist what they have learned in years of activism

WHOSE STREETS?

I wish I could have had everyone I have every ran in the streets with trying to make a better world from the days Gay Liberation Front and the Anti-War movement in the 1960s to this year with Gays Against  Guns and Rise and  Resist, sitting with me on opening night of the Sundance Film Festival and the world premiere of WHOSE STREET. An honest look at what actually happened in Ferguson Mo after Michael Brown was murdered by the Ferguson police. How the community that actually lived there.reacted. WHOSE STREET is truth telling from the actual people who participated rather than a 90sec news spot. For me, it was the perfect film to see on the night before DTs inauguration.  We can if we work together still make a better world despite whatever obstacles are put in front of us. History teaches that it is and has been possible.  So to all of you in DC keep each other safe and know I am there in spirit. Here in Park City, UT  home of the Sundance Film Festival, I will be participating in the locally organized WOMEN'S MARCH 

Here you can learn about WHOSE STREET .....

WHOSE STREETS?

WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT: gays against guns - Attention Holiday Shoppers

ACTION ALERT :Let these businesses know that until they stop supporting the NRA you will not support then! You will not use their services! Period !!!

WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT.... The right to be Different is a core American value!

SAMURI featuring Dance Music Legend and DIva of Change records anti-NRA music video for GAYS AGAINST GUNS campaign to expose NRA congressional PUPPETS

We are GAYS AGAINST GUNS , We will fight the Gun Lobby, NRA and the people who profit from gun manufacturing on every front ,,, from the Streets to the Dance Floor we will expose the people with blood on their hands from Hedge fund Wall Streeters like BlackRock to the NRA Puppets in Congress who sell their votes and voices to the highest bidder .. if one of these puppets is running in your district VOTE THEM OUT . Watch the video and learn who they are,

We are GAYS AGAINST GUNS remembering those killed in mass shootings ., our own tribe at PULSE in ORLANDO and every other person murdered by gun violence in mass shootings.

And because we are GAYS AGAINST GUNS we take our message to the DANCE FLOOR because we know the importance of listening to music and dancing together including our non-gay allies, Black Lives Matter , Save the Children .. Wall street stop profiting from gun violence , We know who you are and we will be in your face until you stop,

Thank you KEVIN Mother Juan Aviance

Gays Against Guns (GAG) is in full-force this week. The queer anti-gun group released a new video that calls out every U.S. senator who has taken money from the NRA in exchange for helping block gun safety laws.

The video uses the vocals of NYC house music and legendary drag figure Kevin Aviance of the seminal House of Aviance, as well as DJ Uri Dalal. “Puppet of the NRA” is intended as a message to voters as they hit the polls on Nov. 8 not to reelect this group of senators who are in the pocket of the NRA.

“Uri and I love the work that GAG has been doing to bring down the gun lobby that blocks smart safety laws, so it was my honor and pleasure to lend my talent to this fierce video calling out the NRA puppets who need to scram from Washington next year,” Aviance told The Huffington Post.

GAG is an anti-gun LGBTQ organization initially formed as a means to achieve common sense gun laws in wake of the Pulse nightclub massacre that left 49 queer people, mostly of color, dead. Since the group’s establishment, members have staged a number of demonstrations, including staging a die-in to shame NRA-supporting politician Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and protesting alongside Queer Nation outside of Trump Tower. GAG also marched in the 2016 NYC Pride Parade, massing an estimated 800 people, and shut down two Reebok stores in response to the company’s sponsorship of the Crossfit Games, where the winners were reported to win handguns as prizes.

Head here for more information on GAG.

This is what I did with my Sunday the last week of august in 91 degree weather in Washington DC . I got up early and boarded a bus full of men and women to represent Gays Against Guns .. Yes I was campaigning. I was role modeling an engage politician who acts rather than remains silent on things he believes in . I must tell you that wearing all white and covering myself with a veil was a profoundly moving experience for me 

I carried the sign bearing the name (Jesse Childress) of an active duty soldier 29 years old killed when he he threw himself over the body of a woman soldier in the movie theater n aurora when the mass killer with an assault weapon in his hands attacked . I am still grieving over what happened in Orlando .many of you know I had very successful clubs with the best dj's for dancing spinning.in the 80's My clubs were alway gay at their core but always open to people who just wanted to have fun and dance and maybe make out ..we were all sexual orientations and gender expressions .. so PULSE I still have not recovered from the deep assault on who we are by a person who should never have been allowed to buy a gun,  I do not want to hear of one more death by gun violence committed by a person who would never have had a gun in their hands..including bad cops. I am grateful to my children who organized Gays Against Guns and to Tigger Ferguson for conceptualizing the "Human Beings" shrouded figures all in white and silent bearing witness to a person killed by a gun that is marketed for profit and sells a masculinity that is brutal even when deranged

yes you can help me by voting on September 13  

This is what I did with my Sunday the last week of august in 91 degree weather in Washington DC . I got up early and boarded a bus full of men and women to represent Gays Against Guns .. Yes I was campaigning. I was role modeling an engage politician who acts rather than remains silent on things he believes in . I must tell you that wearing all white and covering myself with a veil was a profoundly moving experience for me 

I carried the sign bearing the name (Jesse Childress) of an active duty soldier 29 years old killed when he he threw himself over the body of a woman soldier in the movie theater n aurora when the mass killer with an assault weapon in his hands attacked . I am still grieving over what happened in Orlando .many of you know I had very successful clubs with the best dj's for dancing spinning.in the 80's My clubs were alway gay at their core but always open to people who just wanted to have fun and dance and maybe make out ..we were all sexual orientations and gender expressions .. so PULSE I still have not recovered from the deep assault on who we are by a person who should never have been allowed to buy a gun,  I do not want to hear of one more death by gun violence committed by a person who would never have had a gun in their hands..including bad cops. I am grateful to my children who organized Gays Against Guns and to Tigger Ferguson for conceptualizing the "Human Beings" shrouded figures all in white and silent bearing witness to a person killed by a gun that is marketed for profit and sells a masculinity that is brutal even when deranged

yes you can help me by voting on September 13  

Tim Murphy reads from his new book CHRISTODORA at Housing Works Bookstore

Meet one of my children I m most proud of   TIM MURPHY Journalist and activist Tim Murphy celebrates the release of his new work of fiction CHRISTODORA , The backward/forward model captures what is was like living in NYC at the height of the AIDS pandemic. Murphy active in the current Gays Against Guns movement was a wonder to see and hear , Openly moved by the packed room of who is who in the Aids/HIV activist movement . Charles King founder of Housing Works and Sarah Schulman author (Gentrification of the Mind and 13 other narrative and fact based book as well as ACT UP founding memebr ) were there to honor Murphy and listen to the post -reading conversation between Murphy an

USA: 'Gays against Guns' picket Blackrock over arms investments

Yesterday I took part  in a GAYS AGAINST GUNS  /NY (GAG) action  at the headquarters of Blackrock Hedge Fund . Blackrock is a heavy investor in gun manufacturing stock including Smith Wesson. We were remembering the Aurora movie theater massacre  where the killer used a Smith Wesson gun.  Enough is enough. After Orlando many of us just had had it with gun violence and gun profit,  GAG will continue to target across America the NRA saying loud GUNS KILL PEOPLE .

We will continue to target elected officials that we identify as NRA funded puppets. GAG will call for divestment of gun related stocks in portfolios large and small. Below is an excellent article from the Guardian /US with video and passionate GAYS AGAINST GUNS  spokespeople.





Gays Agianst Guns takes on Hedge funds profiting from gun maufacturing investiments

I am proud to have once again been in a GAYS AGAINST GUNS outcry against gun violence. Note : Gay Against Guns is an inclusive organization of same sex desiring individuals reflective of the diversity of the LGBT community,  We welcomed the support of allies and other groups fighting the same fight.  Please join or start a local chapter in your community: Information on how : gagnycoutreach@gmail.com 

MEET GAYS AGAINST GUNS (GAG!) This is who we are and what we stand for ...join us and fight agianst the NRA and politicians who take theie money and vote against GUN CONTROL

MEET GAYS AGAINST GUNS (GAG!) This is who we are and what we stand for .. Please watch and learn what Gays Against Guns is all about and how you can be a part of stopping the NRA and shaming the elected officials who take the NRA money and and vote against gun control , We can /must change hostile takeover of the 2nd amendment and make it 21st century relevant. Come GAG with us. Guns kill people . People responsible for putting guns in the hands of people who kill people are complicit in the deaths. I will not forget Orlando ...PULSE. or Dallas ............join us  set up local chapter  CLEVELAND ? PHILADELPHIA?

MEET GAYS AGAINST GUNS (GAG!) This is who we are and what we stand for ...join us and fight agianst the NRA and politicians who take theie money and vote against GUN CONTROL

MEET GAYS AGAINST GUNS (GAG!) This is who we are and what we stand for .. Please watch and learn what Gays Against Guns is all about and how you can be a part of stopping the NRA and shaming the elected officials who take the NRA money and and vote against gun control , We can /must change hostile takeover of the 2nd amendment and make it 21st century relevant. Come GAG with us. Guns kill people . People responsible for putting guns in the hands of people who kill people are complicit in the deaths. I will not forget Orlando ...PULSE. or Dallas ............join us  set up local chapter  CLEVELAND ? PHILADELPHIA?

ALERT: DALLAS what can be done to stop the gun killing

Guns kill people.  Period. One man's response to the killing of black mostly men over the last four years by white police officers all over the United States was to pick up guns that he presumably legally owned  and open fire allegedly saying in hostage negotiations that “he wanted to kill white people especially white police officers” . While in hostage negotiation the shooter was killed by the Dallas police.

It is my opinion the public believes that white police officers .. or any police officer ,, works above the law and can kill members of the public without fear of punishment. I know there are  honorable police officers of different colors. They need to take leadership in citing  police in their own ranks. I am concerned by use of steroids in the police force and their effect on behavior? Yes  we need police protection as a citizens, but we also need protection from racist, anger driven police officers most amply on display in the killing of black men and women. Shoot to kill MUST not be a police policy.  

Yes, the militarization of the police forces across the country started by the Bush administration and continued by the Obama administration which offers free or cheap military equipment manufactured for war like operations to police departments across the country  and the training of police officers not as peace officers but solderers against crime has to end.

Most importantly every single member of Congress who has refused to pass meaningful gun control legislation are,  in my view,  complicit with this act of revenge for the killing of white police officers by putting guns in the hands of  people who should not have them regardless of color. Passing laws on a State level that allow open and concealed gun carrying In public including in schools, colleges  and churches only exacerbates the problem and threatens  the public.. Elected officials allegiance to the National Rifle Association (NRA)  over the safety of their constituents needs to be made very, very clear to the public. In this election year people need to know and understand the role of the NRA and it’s  financial relationship with elected officials.. Things can not change if we, as citizens, continue to have our federal and state gun policy dictated by the NRA.   I will not vote for any elected official who accepts $$$ from the NRA and votes to reject effective and reasonable gun control legislation.

In my view using a gun to settle disputes of any nature is wrong. Period!

This is why I joined and participate in GAYS AGAINST GUNS actions after the Orlando massacre of lesbian and gay men and their friends dancing at PULSE a gay dance club in Orlando. Here is and image of a restaging of the White Shroud ritual on Fire Island on July 4th to memorialize and personalize the people killed (i am the short third person in on the right hand side)

The Second Amendment must be interpreted in light of the 21st century reality .

I also must point out that when white police officers are killed by a civilian with a conscious alleged intent to “..kill white people, especially white police offices,”  the response from media is quite different in focus from their own focus from any one of the killing of black men by white police officers. “ The larger question of what conditions produce this kind of  act of violence must be primary in any discussion.

Hate causes anger, Anger in action can kill. Putting guns in the hands of angry people, including police officers, causes people to be killed. The policy of shoot to kill must revert back to shoot to disarm and immobilize the person threatened with a gun. Period.

Guns kill people . People who put guns into the hands of people who will kill are complicit in this crime,

GAYS against GUNS is my  response .  And yours?