The idea that the shooter must be gay because he was scoping out his target makes me so fucking angry. I came home last night from the Boston vigil and my mom was saying how it now seems like he was gay because he was at the club, and I’m like no, he was scoping it out. That answer was blatantly obvious to me, but now I know straight people are going to convince themselves he was because the self loathing gay person is a story they would much rather have. “It wasn’t us, it was one of your own” and absolves themselves of the homophobia they are complicit in, of the homophobia that created the atmosphere for this horrible shooting to happen, of the homophobia from straight people that leads some gay people to be in fact self hating and campaign against equal rights. Like even if the shooter was gay, though I do not believe it for a second, he would be a product of the homophobia started and perpetuated by straight people.
This is a huge problem in battling homophobia. Too often I see straight people mock homophobes as if they must be secretly gay, because being gay is a punishment rather than an identity to take pride in. I see them wish they have a gay child, because punishing a homophobe at the expense of an lgbt child is so awesome! I see straight people claiming that the real homophobes are the closeted gay people, because it helps them absolve themselves of homophobia and it is disgusting.
Straight people are the culprits here, straight people and their homophobia are to blame. A man doesn’t get enraged at seeing two men kissing because he is secretly gay. And considering how many people he was able to kill on his own, it’s no surprise he scoped out the place before hand.
The whole “homophobes are all secretly gay" thing seems like a way to say that only gay people really care about being gay. That if someone is making a big deal about gay people they’re either a self-hating closet case, or an out person who is ~excessively in-your-face~ about their sexuality. (I’m thinking of that comment someone made about how their reaction to a person coming out to them was to ask if the gay person was flirting with them, because ~why else would it matter that you’re gay~.)
And then straight people get to say that ~nobody cares if you’re gay anymore~ and pretend homophobia among straight people isn’t a concern. Or they position themselves as tolerant and "not hateful" toward gay people, even if they are openly "against homosexuality.” Because ~of course their stance is just a neutral, dispassionate opinion, it’s not like they would ever ‘get in anyone’s face’ about it.
The morning after the Pulse shooting I made this Facebook post and it ended up being shared by over 2,000 people over the course of the past couple days. This morning I wake up and see this. Facebook literally removed my post because it’s apparently offensive or inappropriate in some way. Read my post and tell me where I’m being offensive? Apparently queer and trans people aren’t allowed to be angry about tragedies that happen within our community and we’re not allowed to encourage straight people to hold themselves accountable in any regard. This is fucking disgusting.
We have such a hard time coming out, we have such little visibility, such few spaces where we can come together and celebrate being both Latino and LGBT, and I think about how excited these Latinos must have been to attend this event, something that was actually about THEM, until their excitement turned to terror. It’s just so fucking unfair.
Then to top it all off, even in death their identity is being erased and glossed over. I feel like not constantly recognizing the race/ethnicity of these victims is so disrespectful to their memory considering the last thing these people did was to celebrate being Latino before they died. So, please, always remember them for who they were and for all the intersections of their identities that made them so uniquely beautiful.
its fucking unreal how people are saying “dont erase that the victims of the orlando shooting are lgbt!” in the same fucking breath that they erase that the victims are predominantly black and latinx people and by unreal i mean transparent as fuck
I texted one of my best friends this morning and asked, “Did you hear about Orlando?” because the first time I ever went to a gay club and pretended like I was “out” was with him when we were fresh out of high school. Out of all my friends, he’s probably spent the most time in gay clubs. Which means I’m more worried about him than about my other friends. So I texted him.
I’m tired.
They want people to give blood, but it’s gay people who need the blood and it’s gay people who can’t donate. But we’re in crisis mode! We’ll take your tainted gay blood for today only!
I’m tired.
I held hands with a man last week and thought, “Oh no, we’re in a small town in Utah and this is dangerous because we’re both gay,” before I remembered that he’s a guy and I’m a girl so no, it’s not dangerous. But the next time I hold hands with a girl, will someone see us and get mad enough to shoot 50 gay people? Will I feel responsible when I read the news? Will I feel like a danger to society for being gay?
I’m tired.
I went to Pride in Salt Lake City last weekend and I complained as I stood in line in the hot sun and I complained about the ticket prices and I complained about the festival being smaller than it was last year and I complained. When it was over, I was still alive. I’m still alive. I can’t believe I complained.
I’m tired.
Bury your gays. Currently on television, 4 percent of characters identify as LGBT. In 2016, about 40 percent of that 4 percent have already died. Yesterday, that might’ve been the issue I wanted to discuss. Yesterday, I might’ve been angry about fictional gays dying. Yesterday. Art imitates life, life imitates art, and I am tired.
I’m tired.
A year ago I put a rainbow flag around my shoulders and celebrated the legalization of gay marriage in the United States. A year ago there was no law banning transgender people from using the bathroom of their choosing. A year ago a man hadn’t shot 50 gay people dead because he saw two men kissing and got angry. “Now that gay marriage is legal, what more do you people want?” Well, I want to stay alive, for one thing.
I’m tired.
There aren’t gay coffee shops or gay restaurants – there are gay nightclubs. Gay nightclubs where LGBT people can meet other LGBT people and feel safe. I want to meet other LGBT people and make friends with LGBT people, but I also don’t want to die.
I’m tired.
My existence is controversial. Even though I’m out, I have to be careful about how “gay” I “act.” What happens if I’m at work and offend a customer? What happens if someone I know reads these words and decides to punish me for them? What happens if someone gets so angry about my sexuality that they shoot 50 people?
i’m so fucking tired. we keep dying in real life and on screen, that’s how much they hate us. we are getting murdered in our safe spaces and they don’t even let the friends of the injured donate blood. they tell trans people to pee in the bushes, they tell suicidal teens who watch themselves die on screen every other week to calm down. they literally fucking kill us and make us afraid of holding hands in public and then ask why we need pride when pride is still an act of bravery, because if we’re openly ourselves we are putting ourselves in danger
Omar Mateen’s father said the attack was not influenced by religion, and apologizes for his son’s actions. [x]
Omar Mateen’s ex-wife reveals that Omar had a history of violence and was very abusive towards her, often beating her when he came home. She also adds that he wasn’t very religious [x]
This was a hate crime against the LGBT community (who I might add many were Latinx, since the shooting in Pulse happened on Upscale Latin Night), but please don’t jump to conclusions and use this situation to justify Islamophobia. Many people are dead and many more injured are in desperate need of help, focus on helping those out instead.
If you live in/near the Orlando area, you can donate blood. Must be at least 16 years old and at least 100 lbs. Call 1-888-9donate.
If not, you can help by donating to support the victims of the Pulse Shooting [x]
Please let me know if any of this information is wrong.
The local blood donation centers have mentioned that they are currently full but will need donors within the next few days, as you can only donate blood less often than how long it keeps for and there is frequently an issue with blood shortage shortly after huge outpourings of blood donation like this.
Thoughtfulfangirling 