Photos by Laurel Golio

In 2016, Adam Eli was 25 years old and working as a real estate agent in New York seven years after coming out. That was the time of Lady Gaga, Glee, #ItGetsBetter, he says. I was like, OK, things are great now.

Then, on June 12, the Pulse nightclub shooting happened. The news was unfolding throughout the day, [and] it kept on getting worse. I was beside myself, Eli recounts.

So he started posting on Instagram and Facebook. I didnt know what else to do. Im thinking, I guess thats what millennials do. He posted messages of strength and urged people to call their queer friends and tell them they loved them. People messaged him back asking him what to do. I was like, how should I know?

The following night, organizers held a vigil in front of the Stonewall Inn in New York City. Eli posted on Instagram that if anyone felt sad, alone and upset, they could meet him at Two Boots Pizza nearby and go to the vigil together. He had a little over 1,000 followers at the time; 35 people showed up. It made me realize: Oh, there is power. It turns out people can be organized through social media. I didnt know that.

A couple of evenings later, Eli found himself at the LGBT Center for the first meeting of an activist group that would eventually become Gays Against Guns (GAG). Most of the participants were significantly older than he was. It became very clear to me that I was in a room with a group of very sophisticated AIDS and marriage activists [and] that I should shut up and listen. I watched them build a group from nothing.