The founder of Armed Queers of Salt Lake City (AQSLC), which is currently under FBI scrutiny as part of its investigation into the assassination of Charlie Kirk, is a biological man who now identifies as a transgender woman who immigrated to the United States from Iran as a child.

AQSLC, a socialist group of pro-gun activists, was founded in 2021 by the former March for Our Lives activist, Ermiya Fanaeian, who that year parted ways with a nationwide group advocating self-defense for LGBT people known as Pink Pistols.