On Wednesday morning, residents of West Hollywood awoke to a rainbow of messages adorning their streets.
Posted everywhere from the Pacific Design Center to The Abbey, and West Hollywood City Hall to the front of artist Chad Michael Morrisette’s house, where passers by also stopped to observe the 50 mannequins that covered the roof of his house with a sign that read “50 Dead People #GunControl”.
Morrisette, who was born and raised in Alaska, was in the news last month when he received an apology from one of the men who had tormented him in junior high.
“The entire football team bullied me,” he told Yahoo Parenting. “It wasn’t one guy, it was six or seven guys who would follow me in the hallways, harassing me, insulting me, threatening my life.”
Now 34-years-old and working as a brand consultant and visual designer in West Hollywood, Morrisette uses his creativity to stand up for others.
This call to arms is much more than symbolic; it is a very real reminder that citizens must be ever-vigilant and prepared to confront evil when it comes intent on violence, and the only real path to ensuring one’s own survival is to rely on the most powerful deterrent that one can utilize. Those who would emasculate Americans by denying them the right to bear arms are guilty of aiding and abetting evil when it strikes.
“I was bullied for being gay. I was bullied for being little. I was bullied for every reason someone is bullied. It was awful. I couldn’t even walk to classes without an adult escort or friends with me,” Morrisette said of his time in junior high.
The group responsible for the #ShootBack campaign in West Hollywood spoke exclusively to PJ Media on Thursday. Sabo, street artist in Los Angeles who said he is a spokesman for the group responsible for the posters, said the #ShootBack posters were a group effort designed to send a message.
Expressing the group’s frustration with those calling for gun control in the wake of the attack, Sabo said, “Continuing to deny where the threat is coming from will not help keep this community safe. The gay community needs to realize that the police are there to respond, not protect.”
“It is all of our responsibilities to be able to protect ourselves and our families. We can not do that if our elected officials disarm us,” he stated.
The rainbow flag stickers across West Hollywood feature the message #ShootBack, encouraging the LGBT community to arm themselves and, well – SHOOT BACK if anyone tries to kill them for who they are. The rainbow background, the symbol of the LGBTQ community, also features the “Don’t Tread On Me” Gadsden Flag rattlesnake, a symbol of the American Revolution which encouraged all Americans to stand as one.
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