For hours, New York City's Fifth Avenue pulsed as revelers danced to thumping electronic music atop floats and spectators, packed several rows deep on the sidewalk or hanging over balconies, cheered passing demonstrators. As the world's largest Pride procession flowed south toward the Stonewall Inn, freshly minted anti-gun violence organizer Justin Hayes surveyed the swarm of activists assembled along 38th Street, eager to join the excitement.
"The NRA is in trouble. They kicked the glitter hornet's nest, baby," Hayes said, smiling. "The LGBT community is used to fighting. Anything we have, we've had to fight for. It's not new for us."
The massacre at Pulse, an LGBTQ club in Orlando, has galvanized the LGBTQ community and motivated many people previously uninvolved in the anti-gun violence movement to act in support of stricter gun laws.
In the days leading up to Pride, Hayes, a hair stylist who has worked on numerous hit television and Broadway shows, helped unite several prominent anti-gun violence groups, including the Brady Campaign, Everytown for Gun Safety and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. He named the coalition "Disarm Hate 2016" and is coordinating a rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. along with "sister rallies" in major American cities for August 13.
Hayes said the Disarm Hate campaign focuses on four simple goals: "Equal human rights for the LGBTQ community," an assault rifle ban, a national registry of gun owners and a mandatory fourteen-to-thirty day waiting period between purchasing and receiving a gun.
Hayes said he recognized that mass shootings fueled by extreme hatred would persist until LGBTQ individuals, organizations and allies actively opposed laws that enable easy access to assault rifles. The community could not afford to wait for "other people" to affect change so he decided to get involved, he said.
"I started to listen to younger gay kids talking about how we don't need to rally, we don't need to do anything because it's the largest mass murder in modern US history so things are going to change [on their own]," Hayes explained. "I thought, 'You're fucking crazy.' Twenty white kids in Sandy Hook were massacred -- kindergartners in an affluent part of Connecticut. And we have weaker gun laws now four years later. If you think anything is going to just change because forty-nine gay and lesbian kids were killed, you're crazy."
Thus, Hayes created a Twitter account and launched the Disarm Hate 2016 campaign from his kitchen table in New Jersey.
In addition to anti-gun violence groups, Hayes has recruited LGBTQ-rights organizations, such as the Trevor Project and the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Celebrities, politicians and countless other individuals have tweeted the hashtag #DisarmHate. The Daily News even splashed the motto across its front page the day after the Pride Parade.
The group who marched behind the Disarm Hate banner at Pride included a handful of recent college graduates, who said they had never before taken action against gun violence. Young children in Disarm Hate t-shirts and stickers sipped water and ate snacks as they waited to march with their parents. Seasoned anti-violence activists mingled with Pride spectators at a nearby bar that provided a clean bathroom, soccer on television and watered-down drinks.
Finally, nearly three hours after the parade began, event staff signaled for the Disarm Hate group, along with the other organizations waiting on 38th Street, to enter the parade. As the activists stepped onto Fifth Avenue, scores of spectators raised their fists, nodded and applauded their support. Several joined marchers in chanting "What do we want? Gun Control! When do we want it. Now?" throughout the march.
Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, carried the Disarm Hate banner alongside Hayes and other movement leaders. NYAGV is cosponsoring the August 13 rally on the National Mall.
"The LGBT community is on board with gun violence prevention," Barrett said. "We believe that the rest of the country deserves what New York has - universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines. Smart gun laws work and that's why New York has the 4th lowest gun rate in the nation."
In nature, hornet colonies reach their peak population in late-summer. During the preceding months, most mature hornets devote their energy to nurturing the younger generations. Around August, when the young reach maturity, hornets experience a surge of aggression and activity. Just before they began marching, four young friends in Disarm Hate t-shirts passed around an aerosol can and doused one another in gold glitter. Their excitement seemed to grow with each spray. If the LGBTQ community is indeed a "glitter hornet's nest," then expect a robust rally in August.