POLITICS
Gays Against Guns Hails AG’s Move Against NRA
New York activists praise Letitia James for suing to dissolve mammoth gun “charity”
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
Gays Against Guns (GAG) responded
with exuberant enthusiasm to New
York State Attorney General Letitia
James’ announcement that she has
fi led suit to dissolve the National Rifl e Association
(NRA).
“Gay Against Guns is thrilled by the action
the NY Attorney General Tish James has taken!,”
GAG said in an emailed response provided
by Jay W. Walker. “For too long the NRA has
abused its bogus ‘non-profi t’ status putting
the interests of weapons manufacturers above
American lives. Tish James has never just talked
the talk. She has always walked the walk
on behalf of all New Yorkers. She has been a
strong warrior in the Gun Violence Prevention
movement since before GAG formed in 2016, after
the Pulse massacre in Orlando. Since then,
she has been a valued supporter of our work:
attending early meetings and making herself
available for our direct actions. As we say in
GAG, Tish James is one Fierce Kween. Thank
you, Madam Attorney General!”
GAG, a New York activist group formed in the
aftermath of the June 2016 Orlando, Florida,
DONNA ACETO
Attorney General James on August 6 announcing the NRA lawsuit.
mass murder by a lone gunman, has staged
dozens of vivid protests aimed at the NRA, gun
and ammunition manufacturers, major investors
in those companies, and elected offi cials —
in New York, Washington, and elsewhere — who
take money from the gun group.
In her suit, announced August 6, James alleged
that the NRA, a nonprofi t charitable organization
registered in New York State in 1871,
and key leaders of the group broke the law in
their management of its funds to the tune of
$64 million in three years’ time through a “culture
of self-dealing, mismanagement, and negligence.”
“The NRA’s infl uence has been so powerful
that the organization went unchecked for decades
while top executives funneled millions
into their own pockets,” the attorney general
said in a written statement. “The NRA is fraught
with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we
seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization
is above the law.”
The NRA, widely seen as among the most
powerful lobbying groups in Washington and
nationwide, has consistently battled against
any sensible gun legislation. According to
OpenSecrets.org, in the current election cycle
the group has made nearly $1.4 million in candidate
contributions and spent more than $3.2
million in lobbying.
The suit names Wayne LaPierre, who has
served as the NRA’s CEO and executive vice
president for more than 30 years; Wilson
“Woody” Phillips, the group’s former treasurer;
➤ AG V. NRA, continued on p.7
New Yorkers Join LGBTQ Poles’ Protest Movement
Queer activists blast that nation’s LGBT-Free Zones, condemn arrest of trans protester
BY MATT TRACY
The recent arrest of a transgender activist
and dozens of her allies in Poland
drew local advocates to the Polish
Consulate in New York City, where
nearly a dozen individuals stood in solidarity
with the protest movement that has blossomed
in the Central European nation in response to a
wave of homophobia coinciding with the recent
re-election of Poland’s anti-LGBTQ president.
Thousands of people fl ocked to Warsaw on
August 8 to call for the release of Malgorzata
Szutowicz, also known as Margot, a transgender
woman who is one of three people accused
of displaying Rainbow banners over statues
and damaging the van of an individual who is
opposed to abortion. The movement to support
LGBTQ rights has now spread across Poland.
The others were eventually released, but Margot
was hit with a two-month detention before
standing trial. Meanwhile, 48 protesters were
swept up by police for allegedly trying to shield
BRENDAN FAY
Protesters in New York displayed a large Rainbow Flag at the Polish
Consulate to bring visibility to the LGBTQ movement there.
her from getting arrested, Reuters reported.
The developments were the latest in an enduring
wave of activism pushing back on anti
LGBTQ sentiments in Poland following the
re-election of President Andrzej Duda and the
emergence of a campaign to establish “LGBTfree
zones” in certain parts of the country,
where local regions passed symbolic resolutions
opposing the rights of queer folks. The European
Union responded by blocking funding to the
towns that voted for the LGBT-free zones.
Brendan Fay, a New York LGBTQ activist who
traveled to Poland last year at the request of activists
there, helped lead the demonstration at
the Polish Consulate on August 10. Advocates
there displayed Rainbow Flags and held signs
reading “Duda = Fascist,” “Stop Homophobia in
Poland,” and “Trans and Queer Stand Without
Fear,” along with a social media hashtag supporting
Margot. The group also unfurled a large
Rainbow Flag, signed by the late Gilbert Baker,
that Fay brought with him to Poland last year
“We call for the release of Margot Szutowicz,”
Fay said in a written statement. “We call on the
Polish president and government leaders to de-
➤ POLAND, continued on p.7
August 13 - August 26, 2 6 020 | GayCityNews.com
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