Gus Kein doesn’t live too far away from one of South Florida’s biggest gay neighborhoods, Wilton Manors, but his proximity to a place where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyles are more common doesn’t mean people like him are immune to hate crimes.
To defend himself, Kein and thousands of other members of the gay community are loading up guns with ammunition, learning to shoot firearms, and encouraging other members of their community to do the same.
Kein heads the Fort Lauderdale chapter of the Pink Pistols, an LGBT gun group founded in 2000 to promote education and equipment of firearm use by the gay community. Membership is loosely organized, so when someone wants to become a member of the group, they just show up.
Despite being 16 years old, major interest in the Pink Pistols didn’t occur until a few months ago.
In June, a mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub left 49 dead and dozens more injured. The gay community was the prime target of the massacre, provoking the LGBTQ community to have a serious conversation about their own safety as a minority group.
Many in the LGBT community responded to the shooting by demanding more gun control and increased restrictions on gun ownership nationwide.
Others, like the Pink Pistols, have decided to take matters into their own hands.
“Armed queers don’t get bashed,” the group says. “The Pink Pistols are the ones who have decided to no longer be safe targets. They have teeth. They will use them.”
People like Kein agree. He told Sunshine State News criminals don’t normally think of gays as the type of victim who will fight back, partially because of societal fears.
“There are gay bashing, muggings...because [gay people] are seen as easy targets,” Kein explained. “They won’t report to the police because of their lifestyle. Criminals think it’s easy to pick on gays.”
For years, Kein tried to get his friends and members of the gay community to join him in using his Second Amendment rights. Most of them didn’t bite on the offer to carry guns or learn how to shoot -- protecting themselves was something the law should do, something the police should fight for, not them.
That all changed after Pulse.
“It became a really high demand issue,” Kein said. “People wanted to learn more about their ability to defend themselves.”
So Kein formed a local Pink Pistols chapter, and slowly, membership grew.
Other chapters popped up around the state, created in the wake of a massacre which shook the foundation of the gay community to its core.
“After the terror attack on Pulse, I got angry,” said Chad Hendrix, creator of the Pink Pistols chapter in Ft. Myers. “Angry, because under Florida law, even though Saturday night, June 4th, I drank ZERO alcohol, I was still disarmed under Florida law.”
Hendrix has spent a lot of time in Orlando, frequenting clubs like Pulse and Parliament House, two hot spots for the gay community in the area. He’s also spent time in other states, like Tennessee and Louisiana, both of which allow concealed carry permit holders to bring their weapons into places that serve alcohol.
Those places, he says, create an environment where people like him can protect themselves if they need to.
“Having armed people there who are the true first responders, changes the odds dramatically [of being killed],” he said. “Responsible people act responsibly. Just like we have designated drivers, we have designated concealed carriers.”
Hendrix’s positions aren’t popular in LGBT community, and he believes it’s because they are afraid. Gay clubs have long been a source of refuge for the community, a calm, welcoming place where the LGBT community could be at ease and be themselves.
“Many people I speak to in the gay community are scared,” he said. “Unfortunately it is denial, they didn’t accept that there are people out in the world that will kill them, because of their religious beliefs, or that they suffer from a mental illness...no matter the reason, we always felt the gay bars were our ‘safe harbor’. It is scary when they realize we are not safe there anymore.”
Hendrix, too, says he has received a lot of encouragement and interest in Pink Pistols since Pulse. Last month, the group had their first meeting.
A typical meeting can consist of anything from gun safety, education and even heading out to the shooting range.
Unsurprisingly, groups like Pink Pistols are in the minority in the gay community -- and many aren’t happy over the organization’s mission.
Both Kein and Hendrix said they’ve experienced negative backlash since forming their chapters.
“There’s been outward hostility from some,” Kein said, recalling times where chapters haven’t been allowed to eat at certain establishments because of their mission. Hendrix said flyers he put up for the group had been destroyed in his local gay bar.
Hendrix and Kein say they respect the opinions of opponents, but believe gun control isn’t necessarily a gay and lesbian issue.
“It’s everybody’s right for to fight for what they believe in,” Kein said.
People like Hendrix are simply glad the group is causing a conversation among the LGBT community.
“I am encouraged that simply talking about it, makes people think,” said Hendrix. “I tell them, ‘You are responsible for your own safety!’ At least it gets them thinking.”
Membership in Florida is still small, since most of the groups started over the last few months. Pink Pistols of Ft. Lauderdale has 30 members locally, but the national membership has soared over 7,000 -- an uptick of 66 percent since the Pulse shooting.
Ultimately, the Pink Pistols mission comes down to putting safety in the LGBT community’s hands.
“We have all heard the stories of gay people being attacked, commonly referred to as being ‘gay bashed,’” said Hendrix. “Some have died, others horribly injured. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen
