In the media, when we see LGBT demonstrations we usually associate them with rainbow flags, trans people wearing colourful outfits, with a “cute and peaceful” appearance — but it’s not always like that. In the United States they are increasingly radicalising and arming themselves.
In the United States a Movement is growing that very few media outlets talk about.
Only when there is a mass shooting in a school or shopping centre.
There is an armed LGBT and far‑left movement, growing. They organise desert events, shooting sessions, and more.
A new face of American gun culture.
Recently, the article *The Hard‑Left Shooters Leading a Gun Culture Revolution* drew attention to a little‑discussed phenomenon: the rise of left‑wing communities — often queer, trans, antifascist — who present themselves as part of America’s gun culture, claiming the right to bear arms as a form of self‑defence, community solidarity and political resistance.
Who are they?
Participants in events such as the so‑called *Brutality matches* — shooting competitions with strong elements of performance, post‑apocalyptic cosplay and alternative subcultural styles.
Many are queer or trans, often marginalised due to gender identity, sexual orientation, race or social status. The environment, according to reports, aims to be inclusive and welcoming.
The organisations behind these initiatives generally advocate anti‑racist, pro‑LGBTQ+ and social‑justice causes; they argue that vulnerable communities also have the right to self‑defence.
Until now, gun ownership/use in the US has been broadly associated with the political right — conservatives, nationalists, supremacists. But this new reality challenges that symbolic monopoly. By mixing progressive ideology with gun rights, these groups create a paradox that disturbs many people on both sides:
The pro‑gun right views this militant, identity‑based use of firearms with suspicion — or hostility.
On the left, traditionally pacifist or opposed to gun ownership, many criticise the legitimisation of firearms as a means of “community self‑defence.”
Media visibility and stigma: after events such as the killing of Charlie Kirk, the movement faced hostile rhetoric, conspiracy theories and accusations of “ideological violence.”
Piper Smith founded the movement “Armed Equality” in 2016.
They argue that the LGBT community also has the right to the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment to the US Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Passed in 1791, it is often interpreted as an individual right to self‑defence.
The issue is obviously controversial: the US has a massive gun culture and a billion‑dollar firearms industry.
Gays, trans people, and all variants of LGBT+ identities have the same right to own firearms as heterosexuals.
But the dark side of the coin: when shootings and innocent deaths occur (whether in universities, shopping centres or on the streets), shooters can be heterosexual or LGBT.
Not all LGBT people are “good” — there are sociopaths and killers within these communities as well; a murderer can have any sexual orientation, regardless of labels.
There are also conflicts between rival groups — for example, in TEXAS, armed LGBT communities and far‑right groups are rivals, and sometimes there are armed clashes between them.
But it doesn’t end there — all “minorities” want to arm themselves, such as black communities.
The “Not Fucking Around Coalition” (NFAC) is a black nationalist militia, part of the militia movement in the United States, based in Kentucky. The group advocates black liberation and separatism.
And the United States will always have this problem: the arms industry is powerful.
Sources: Wired, Guns, The Globe and Mail
0 Comments