"I was going to talk about a pretty feel-good firearms competition I went to earlier this year, where trans and queer people made up about a quarter of participants and the unofficial rule was you're not allowed to be a bigot. I was going to describe the strange and whimsical mix of subcultures people embraced there-like polyamory and Mad Max cosplay-wrapped up in pro-LGBT and Black Lives Matter patches."
"It's late July, and I'm riding bitch in a pseudo golf cart at a gun range in the not-quite-desert that is Parma, Idaho, listening to two competitive shooters jokingly bicker over which one of them is more marginalized. One, a 22-year-old YouTuber who goes by Gun Bunny, is a Russian Jew who is poly-pansexual and has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a disability that makes her joints hurt, along with autism and ADHD."
A firearms competition in Parma, Idaho attracted diverse participants including trans, queer, disabled, and Jewish competitors under an unofficial 'no bigotry' rule. The event combined marksmanship with physical tasks and playful subcultural expression, featuring polyamory themes, Mad Max cosplay, and pro-LGBT and Black Lives Matter patches. Competitors traded joking banter about marginalization and celebrated camaraderie and inclusive missions. The atmosphere mixed Burning Man-style whimsy with competitive shooting. Concerns about personal safety and potential targeting increased following Charlie Kirk's killing, casting a darker shadow over the community's sense of security.
Read at WIRED
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