This Is How We Disarm Hate: Students Demand Action at DC Pride

In June, Students Demand Action volunteers from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C., for Everytown’s annual Gun Sense University (GSU) convening. This year’s GSU fell during Pride Month, a time to celebrate the history, resilience, accomplishments, and beauty of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Students Demand Action joined the celebration with a social outing to the Capital Pride Festival during GSU for LGBTQIA+ students and allies. Many of these students had just landed in D.C. hours before—but you’d never know it from the group’s energy.

The students were incredibly welcoming to one another. For some, this trip was their first time in D.C.; for others, it was their first time at a Pride event. For all, it was a special time to meet other queer students and allies in the gun violence prevention space. Some felt a strong sense of connection as they found friendly faces from their state, while others were excited to build camaraderie with advocates across the nation.

The D.C. Pride gathering was a reminder to students of the intersectionality of their identities and their work to end gun violence. Many were encouraged to see other bi, queer, trans, and nonbinary people in the gun violence prevention movement. Queer students and allies alike could see a tangible reminder of the community that ties them together and to this work.

And that work is vital. Hate crimes—many of which are carried out with a firearm—disproportionately impact the LGBTQ+ community. Our movement must recognize this crisis, especially during Pride Month. For many LGBTQ+ youth, these statistics represent a reality that is daunting, scary, and unsafe.

The Students Demand Action trip to D.C. Pride was a respite amid this reality. Students and allies attending the event wandered through the crowd, many of them carrying Disarm Hate signs and placards. Some of the Pride attendees came up to students, asking to take photos with their signs. Others shared what Pride means to them as a gun violence prevention activist.

At D.C. Pride, queer students and allies came together, built community, and reminded each other that LGBTQ+ identities are beautiful and deserve to be celebrated. The gathering served as a grounding practice and reminder of ways we disarm hate: by loving ourselves, loving each other, and lifting each other up.