WASHINGTON, DC/ ORLANDO, FL, JUNE 12, 2019 — The three-year anniversary of the Pulse shooting in Orlando is June 12. That tragedy inspired the founding of the Pride Fund to End Gun Violence, the only national LGBTQ political organization solely focused on gun policy reform to ensure safety for all. Our issues impact every community in the country, every day. Pulse survivors and family members of those killed in the attack serve on our Board of Advisors and are also available for comment.
The Pride Fund holds three basic principles:
We fight for laws that make our communities safer from guns.
We fight for policies that protect LGBTQ individuals from discrimination and violence.
We support candidates for office who do the same, and we oppose those who do not.
During the 2018 election, we endorsed 22 pro-gun reform, pro-LGBTQ candidates across 11 states and helped change the balance of power in Congress so that we can finally pass gun safety legislation. We focused on some of the most competitive races in the country to replace NRA-backed Republicans with Democratic gun reform champions. We were strategic in our approach, running 5 digital ad campaigns in our most targeted races and using advanced micro-targeting to deliver these ads directly to persuadable, registered voters in the districts we were trying to flip.
As a result, we achieved a 77% success rate for our 22 endorsed candidates including a California race in which Harvey Rouda beat out longtime California Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, who had an A rating from the NRA. In Virginia, Elaine Luria, a 20-year Navy veteran committed to gun reform, defeated the incumbent Rep. Scott Taylor. We ran two digital ads, one showing how Taylor accepted an NRA campaign check just 1 day after the Parkland massacre.
Not all of our activities involve elections. We also have a strong advocacy component at the national and state levels.
We bridge the gap between citizens and their government by providing a space to engage in meaningful policy discussions and promote a deeper understanding of the political landscape, past, present, and future.
We activate, mobilize, and unify members of the Pulse community, citizens, and Members of Congress and our allies around common goals and concerns through coordinating and hosting community events and calls to action.
We have initiated a public awareness campaign that strives to educate the public about how specific legislation, movements, and events contribute to the common goals of gun violence prevention and LGBTQ communities: ending gun violence and discrimination.
Our Board of Advisors consists of Pulse community members who were directly affected by the tragedy, including survivors of the shooting, family members of several victims, and the owner of Pulse. Their personal involvement underscores our mission: to ensure that another Pulse never happens again. We have turned tragedy into action to create a safer America.
As the LGBTQ community celebrates Pride Month, we cannot forget the horror visited upon our brothers and sisters in Orlando three years ago. Should you be reporting on Pride Month, the Pulse anniversary, or the issue of gun rights and the LGBTQ community as an important undercurrent, I'd appreciate the opportunity to brief you on the current gun reform issues, Pride Fund's efforts, and more information about Pride Fund's work.
www.pridefund.org . Also on Facebook and Twitter @Pride_Fund
—From a press release