It’s difficult to put into words what many in this community are feeling right now.
Grief over the senseless loss of 49 people is likely chief among the emotions coursing through LGBT people. Also doubtlessly prevalent is the jolt of fear not unlike what many in our country felt after 9/11, as we are forcibly confronted with the danger we could face every day when we leave our houses. But anger is also rampant — understandably so.
While the gunman who sprayed bullets into Pulse nightclub for hours Sunday morning may have made the individual decision to pull that trigger again and again and again, he in no way acted alone. Whether motivated by conflicts over his sexual identity, a political agenda or a combination of the two, homophobia made him target an LGBT club, made him kill LGBT person after LGBT person.
Omar Mateen is responsible for the bloodshed at Pulse, but so are many others.
Blood is also on the hands of every politician who spent the past few months demonizing and othering transgender people through their so-called “bathroom bills.” Blood is on the hands of religious leaders who preach bigotry from the pulpit, teaching their congregations that they need to “cure” their LGBT youth, that there is something inherently wrong with being LGBT. Blood is on the hands of presidential candidates who pledged to roll back marriage equality, owing to the fact that same-sex couples don’t deserve the same rights as other people. Blood is on the hands of every family and parent who has rejected or kicked out their LGBT children.
All of these people lent their voices to the chorus of Americans who told Marteen that being LGBT is wrong, that being LGBT makes people undeserving, unequal, other. Whether Marteen latched onto that message because of his own self-loathing or another reason, the reality is that Marteen was born and raised in America — while politicians may bandy the notion that he was influenced by ISIS, he was also, horrifying as it might be, influenced by our own country.
This is a country that has by and large come together to support its LGBT citizens in the past few days. But many of the people who’ve offered their thoughts and prayers to the victims and community are the same exact people who — through their bigotry, political aspirations or just willful ignorance — fueled the fire that led to this tragedy.
Orlando needs to be a call to action — for LGBTs and allies to push back against institutionalized homophobia and transphobia and for the many people who allowed this situation to become a reality to open their eyes to the tangible byproducts of bigotry.