Across the nation, LGBTQ people are taking up arms, driven by fears of escalating political rhetoric, targeted legislation, and what many describe as the specter of persecution.
As the Republican Party has pushed for increasingly restrictive policies on gender-affirming care and divisive policies, some LGBTQ Americans are turning to self-defense as their ultimate safeguard.
'It's all about survival,' said Matthew Thompson, a 36-year-old gay man from Oakland, New Jersey to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
*****
'We're not looking to arm up and storm the Capitol. We just don't want to be put in concentration camps.'
Oh, for fuck's sake. Grow the hell up.
