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Queer Eye's Karamo Brown Has a Personal Tie to Parkland Tragedy
Queer Eye's Karamo Brown Has a Personal Tie to Parkland Tragedy
The culture expert revealed why he joined the Human Rights Campaign in March for Our Lives.
Karamo Brown has a personal connection to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School -- the Queer Eye host graduated in 1999 from the Florida institution, which he opened up about Saturday at the Spring Equality Convention, an event organized by the Human Rights Campaign.
"When I saw on the news a few weeks back that my alma mater was being called the site of (one of) the world's deadliest school massacre(s), you all cannot imagine how much my heart broke," Brown told attendees of the convention.
One of his classmates, Aaron Feis, was one of the victims of the recent shooting -- an assistant football coach who died while acting as a human shield for students. Brown recalled memories of rooting for Feis at football games, and "cheered him on as we graduated on the same day, same year."
By working as a coach at his alma mater, Feis "wanted to give back to the students what he and I had received from our teachers, which was unconditional love, a relentless encouragement to be fearless in your passions, and a clear guidance on how to achieve your dreams," Brown declared.
Brown saw this legacy being carried out by a new generation of Marjory Stoneman students, who are "channeling their pain into deliberate action" by becoming outspoken activists of gun control. "Our kids are teaching us how to finally declare, 'Enough is enough,' and demand a legislative change," he said.
Feis was one of the reasons Brown decided to join HRC and Pulse survivors Saturday in the March for Our Lives demonstration in Washington, D.C. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Brown also revealed that gun violence against marginalized people, and
Friends, we are living in a divided culture but today we came together as one! I had the honor to to speak at the @humanrightscampaign pre- #MarchForOurLives event and want to share it with you. #NeverAgain #MSDStrong #Classof1999
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"Anytime someone gets shot, whether it's an unarmed African-American male, or whether it's a school shooting, my sons immediately come to my mind," he said.
"I look at these kids and I see my own kids, and I can't help but think about the parents who are grieving for their children that are lost, because no parent should ever outlive their child. It just shouldn't happen," he added.
Watch his speech below.
