Following the Orlando terror attack on a gay nightclub, gay themed posters reminiscent of the Gadsden Flag and including the phrase #ShootBack have appeared all over the predominantly gay California neighborhood of West Hollywood.
The Los Angeles Times reported:
West Hollywood plastered with rainbow #ShootBack signs
Stickers and posters featuring a rainbow-colored version of the Gadsden flag and the hashtag #ShootBack were raising eyebrows in West Hollywood on Thursday morning in the wake of the massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida.
The signage was affixed to electric boxes, light poles, trash cans and other fixtures near West Hollywood City Hall, the Pacific Design Center and along Santa Monica Boulevard. Several were hung near the Abbey Food & Bar, a well-known gay lounge.
The posters featured a coiled, striking rattlesnake, similar to the yellow Gadsden flag that reads “Don’t Tread On Me” and often is used by the Tea Party movement. The West Hollywood signs were rainbow-colored, like the gay pride flag.
“We are disturbed by them,” West Hollywood Mayor Lauren Meister said of the posters. “We don’t believe in an eye for an eye, and we advocate against gun violence.”
The signs were posted just days after Sunday’s shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. The 29-year-old gunman, Omar Mateen, had spoken in the past of his hatred for gay people before killing 49 club-goers and wounding 53 more.
Here are some pictures via Twitter:
Rainbow flags with #ShootBack written on them found in West Hollywood https://t.co/c2uxzPq2Px pic.twitter.com/o4mMkQVdbZ
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 17, 2016
#2A is an equal opportunity amendment afforded to ALL American citizens-USE IT#ShootBack #Orlando #MAGA #Trump2016 pic.twitter.com/iq2YVEuoAv
— CC (@ChristiChat) June 17, 2016
Rainbow '#ShootBack' Signs Appear Across West Hollywood https://t.co/83sfD2I9YZ pic.twitter.com/BgRQXa2Kba
— LAist (@LAist) June 16, 2016
Will the gay community embrace its right to defend itself?
