Gays with Guns

A Vietnam vet and mechanic, Dan Weiner admitted his bisexuality to himself only eight years ago, when he was 43. ("As a Libertarian, I should have known better," he jokes.) While he was closeted, Weiner heard his fair share of "guy talk," and he knows violence against gays is nothing new. Weiner recalls one 70-year-old WWII vet recounting how upset his fellow soldiers were at the loss of extra spending money when the base cracked down on the routine beating and robbing of homosexuals.

While some stories are exaggerated, another tale Weiner remembers has the ring of truth to it. A co-worker said he had been out "fag-bashing" with three friends and was amazed to find the gays fighting back. "They were really beating the crap out of us," he told Weiner.

Weiner finds that story believable, and not just because someone who engages in this sort of harassment (either a bully or a closeted gay, according to him) wouldn't lie about getting bested by a fairy. Not all gays are content to just lie down and play the victim, he says. "If us queer folk would just stop letting these guys keep picking on us and fight back, they would quit." That sentiment prompted Weiner to form the Houston chapter of the Pink Pistols, a gun rights group that advocates the carrying of firearms by homosexuals. Armed gays, their Web site asserts, don't get bashed.

How is the typically left-leaning gay community responding to this? "Well, to answer your question," says a Pink Pistol at the group's press conference of one, "we invited the gay press -- do you see anyone here?" Straight gun advocates are just as cool to the idea. The Pistols have seen some nasty posts about their group on progun Internet bulletin boards.

Despite his stint in the army, Weiner claims his experience with firearms was limited to basic training and admits the loud noises still startle him. "The army just shoves a gun in your hand and shows you where to point it," he says. Truth be told, the group's founder doesn't even own a gun but says he plans to buy one as soon as he's saved enough money. He hopes the Pink Pistols will help him and others overcome their uneasiness by learning the proper use of handguns and the art of self-defense.

Weiner is also active in the Q Patrol, a neighborhood watchdog organization that collects the license plate numbers of people who throw beer bottles and otherwise harass folks in the parking lots of gay bars. They report the bashers to police, then track down their addresses and mail bright pink cards that document the offense and provide the phone number of the Lesbian and Gay Community Center switchboard -- in case the harassers wish to pursue their interest in the gay lifestyle.

Rather than waiting for the police department to show up, Weiner thinks, gays ought to take their protection into their own hands. Though he admits groups like the Pink Pistols could egg some people on, Weiner hopes that in the end bullies will think twice about attacking gays if they believe their targets might be armed.