Today both President Trump and Vice President Pence will speak at the NRA annual meeting in Dallas, TX

NEW YORK – GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today denounced President Trump and Vice President Pence for speaking at the NRA’s annual meeting in Dallas, TX. Both Trump and Pence are scheduled to take the stage this afternoon during the NRA Leadership Forum, further displaying how the Trump Administration is giving into the NRA’s lobbying influence instead of listening to the growing demand for sensible gun control sparked by youth-led activism following the February 14^th school shooting in Parkland, FL.

“President Trump and Vice President Pence are putting pandering to partisan politics over protecting the lives of Americans, while refusing the accept the reality that there is a direct correlation between how easy guns are to obtain and the horrifying frequency mass shootings take place in our country,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “American lives are not a partisan issue. From Columbine to Parkland, Pulse Nightclub to the high rates of gun violence faced by transgender women of color, too many Americans already know the devastating impact and heartbreak of gun violence.”

“Now more than ever, LGBTQ+ youth are recognizing that gun violence is a direct threat to our community with queer and trans youth even more vulnerable,” said GLAAD Campus Ambassador Leah Juliett. “While this administration wishes to push us back into the closet, we refuse to feel threatened by them, the NRA, or by bias-motivated violence in our call for comprehensive gun reform. We are on the right side of history, and we will never be silenced.”

Following the Parkland shooting, Leah Juliett (pronouns: they/them) penned a powerful open letter to Congress calling for them to enact sensible gun control that was co-signed by 100 of their follow GLAAD Campus Ambassadors.

GLAAD stands in solidarity with “Never Again,” March for Our Lives, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas students and all those impacted by gun violence mobilizing the movement for gun control. At the same time as the NRA annual meeting, GLAAD will be honoring and investing in the next generation of LGBTQ change makers, whose advocacy is transforming their local communities and the culture at large at the 2018 Rising Stars Luncheon.