Group Proposes Arming LGBT Community Against Hate

Posted June 26, 2014

By Allison Griner

Screenshot: pinkpistols.org

It was barely June 1 when two men were gunned down in Seattle’s Central District. They were both young twenty-somethings, headed home from a night of clubbing. And they both happened to be gay.

Police continue to wonder if their deaths were the result of a hate crime. FBI statistics indicate that nearly 20 percent of hate crimes are motivated by sexual orientation.

But there may be a way to reduce violence against the LGBT community, according to one advocacy group.

The Pink Pistols propose firearm education for the LGBT individuals, because, as their website puts it, “Armed queers don’t get bashed.”

“The more people know that members of our community may be armed, the less likely they will be to single us out for attack,” it said.

The group was founded in 2000, after an article entitled “Pink Pistols” was published on Salon.com urging homosexual people to arm themselves. Since then, the Pink Pistols has launched chapters in the U.S., Canada and South Africa, with the aim of teaching the responsible use of firearms.

Pink Pistols counts 28 active chapters on its website, but its Fall 2013 status report suggests that number is on the rise. “The Pink Pistols have begun to grow again, with many inquiries as to how to start a chapter,” the report said. “We have a new chapter in Texas, the first in many years.”

Since the report was released, Pink Pistols has reopened chapters in Asheville, Salt Lake City and the Twin Cities.

Almost a year ago, Paige Biron, a 55-year-old transgender woman, helped to kick-start the dormant Seattle-area Pink Pistols chapter. A former Marine officer, Biron had been teaching firearm safety courses when she decided to join Pink Pistols.

Her Pink Pistols chapter is mostly made up of beginners. “Mostly they’re curious about firearms. They’ve never fired them before,” Biron said. She tries to organize a get-together at least once a month, starting with a firearms safety talk and ending with a trip to the gun range and lunch.