As I sit here at my desk, solemn and sickened, I am
still trying to wrap my head around this morning's
mass murder in Orlando.
Right now, it's all very surreal, very frightening, quite
maddening, very personal, and yet...not shocking.
Soon enough, the very real tragedy of the lost lives
will be translated into profit-making and political
agendas for everyone save the family and friends of
those killed. Less than 13 hours ago, those people were
merely living their lives, trying to unwind and enjoy
what can be a stark existence even without the input
of deranged gunmen.
And, even as a gay man, even as a former denizen of
Orlando who still has friends and family there, I too will
fall prey to the same distancing mechanism, albeit as
coping mechanism. That's who we are; The Detached
States of America.
Will the gunman truly turn out to be an ISIS member?
Was there a conspiracy to get him in the club? How
will the right-wing react to this tragedy (other than badly
and falsely?) What will be the next target? These and
other questions and worries plague people's minds now, as the
horror and unreality are not only startling us, but the endless
media coverage is whipping us into a frenzy about.
I can already hear the coming hours and days unfolding:
The endless speculation, the ever-changing stories, the
rumors, the false leads bandied about with certainty, people
doing everything they can to get their faces on tv and their
names in the paper.
There will be Republicans pretending to be outraged, while
in truth this is the sort of terrible repercussion that we can
expect after decades of hate speech, innuendo, fear-mongering,
baiting, and campaign lies and manipulation. Hell, George W.
Bush won his second term on a hateful, despicable anti-gay
platform. And just look at what the governors and other GOP
higher-ups have been doing and saying in North Carolina,
Mississippi, Oklahoma, Indiana, Alabama and elsewhere.
No, the GOP conservatives will do as they have with the
racism fury of the last few weeks regarding Trump; They will
play innocent and offended and hurl names, while they grin
through their teeth in private, knowing that these actions are
merely 'worse than' theirs, and make them seem nicer by
comparison. But 'less hateful' is not something to be proud of,
nor is it acceptable.
We'll also be getting the usual unstable religious sorts who will
blame us homosexuals for this happening. They will once more
label us 'sinners' and thus detach us from 'regular humans' who
deserve sympathy and respect. They will do what they do; blame
victims, even as they stroke the fires of their own delusional
self-righteousness regarding their unholy attack on trans-
gendered people, gay men, lesbian women, and any who dare
live their live by their own accord.
But, Rick Warren? You have blood on your hands.
James Dobson? You're a killer too.
National Organization for Marriage? 700 Club? American
Family Association? You are all to blame for this massacre.
You too are murderers. This hate doesn't come to fruition in a
vacuum. It doesn't manifest magically or mysteriously.
We know how hate and irrational distrust is formed, and it most
certainly doesn't come 'from god' in an attempt to 'cleanse the
impure.' That's just sorry propaganda designed to give excuse to
very human insecurities and bitterness. Hate and fear and
distrust is taught, slow and harsh, over the long haul. And
evangelical churches, broadcasts, literature and groups have
also been cultivating baseless hate towards the LGBTQ people
of the planet for decades.
They will all be saying that we 'deserved this,' and that we are
as much terrorists as the people who did this.
They will have celebrated in this morning's services, and will
continue to use it for their own agenda of 'what happens when
you aren't following (our version of) god's will.'
They will continue their campaign of hateful divide, or promoting
intolerance through legislation, of blaming and scape-goating, of
raising funds from their flock based on the hate they inspired
with gays and lesbians.
And they will see to it that this murderous assault is seen as an
example of what 'good soldiers' are willing to do to enforce
what they see as the law of a 'higher power,' even though it's
their own feelings they promote.
The religious will also deny culpability and avert attention
away from their policies and rhetoric, as though in no way
connected. But as surely as someone gives an arsonist
matches and gasoline, knowing what he is intending to do
with them, the pastors and talking heads and Donald Trumps
of the world stir things up from their soap box and pulpit,
smiling insidiously as their homemade bombs go forth to
ravage and destroy. "But I didn't do anything!"
Manipulators and cowards, all of them.
It's only a matter of time, given the current insane state
of conflict and irrationality, before American-born terrorists
(a.k.a. local church-goers, co-workers, police, and more)
are mirroring this massacre to make their feelings known..,
because they've been told by people in authority that it's just
that important, and it's an acceptable act. Maybe even the
'will of god.' This is the power of those who bend people's
wills with their words.
I'm afraid because this happened so easily.
I'm afraid because it may well happen again.
I'm afraid because this means all of the beatings, assaults,
murders, and tortures of LGBTQ community members
that happen every year from 'god-loving ditto-heads' has
now escalated beyond individual incidents.
I am afraid because our country seems to be on an escalating
path to destruction, each day advancing further and further
into depravity, and so I unfortunately see this not as isolated
incident,' but rather the Beginning.
A 'Beginning' whose origins have been cemented in the
pulpits and on GOP platforms for quite some time.
still trying to wrap my head around this morning's
mass murder in Orlando.
Right now, it's all very surreal, very frightening, quite
maddening, very personal, and yet...not shocking.
Soon enough, the very real tragedy of the lost lives
will be translated into profit-making and political
agendas for everyone save the family and friends of
those killed. Less than 13 hours ago, those people were
merely living their lives, trying to unwind and enjoy
what can be a stark existence even without the input
of deranged gunmen.
And, even as a gay man, even as a former denizen of
Orlando who still has friends and family there, I too will
fall prey to the same distancing mechanism, albeit as
coping mechanism. That's who we are; The Detached
States of America.
Will the gunman truly turn out to be an ISIS member?
Was there a conspiracy to get him in the club? How
will the right-wing react to this tragedy (other than badly
and falsely?) What will be the next target? These and
other questions and worries plague people's minds now, as the
horror and unreality are not only startling us, but the endless
media coverage is whipping us into a frenzy about.
I can already hear the coming hours and days unfolding:
The endless speculation, the ever-changing stories, the
rumors, the false leads bandied about with certainty, people
doing everything they can to get their faces on tv and their
names in the paper.
There will be Republicans pretending to be outraged, while
in truth this is the sort of terrible repercussion that we can
expect after decades of hate speech, innuendo, fear-mongering,
baiting, and campaign lies and manipulation. Hell, George W.
Bush won his second term on a hateful, despicable anti-gay
platform. And just look at what the governors and other GOP
higher-ups have been doing and saying in North Carolina,
Mississippi, Oklahoma, Indiana, Alabama and elsewhere.
No, the GOP conservatives will do as they have with the
racism fury of the last few weeks regarding Trump; They will
play innocent and offended and hurl names, while they grin
through their teeth in private, knowing that these actions are
merely 'worse than' theirs, and make them seem nicer by
comparison. But 'less hateful' is not something to be proud of,
nor is it acceptable.
We'll also be getting the usual unstable religious sorts who will
blame us homosexuals for this happening. They will once more
label us 'sinners' and thus detach us from 'regular humans' who
deserve sympathy and respect. They will do what they do; blame
victims, even as they stroke the fires of their own delusional
self-righteousness regarding their unholy attack on trans-
gendered people, gay men, lesbian women, and any who dare
live their live by their own accord.
But, Rick Warren? You have blood on your hands.
James Dobson? You're a killer too.
National Organization for Marriage? 700 Club? American
Family Association? You are all to blame for this massacre.
You too are murderers. This hate doesn't come to fruition in a
vacuum. It doesn't manifest magically or mysteriously.
We know how hate and irrational distrust is formed, and it most
certainly doesn't come 'from god' in an attempt to 'cleanse the
impure.' That's just sorry propaganda designed to give excuse to
very human insecurities and bitterness. Hate and fear and
distrust is taught, slow and harsh, over the long haul. And
evangelical churches, broadcasts, literature and groups have
also been cultivating baseless hate towards the LGBTQ people
of the planet for decades.
They will all be saying that we 'deserved this,' and that we are
as much terrorists as the people who did this.
They will have celebrated in this morning's services, and will
continue to use it for their own agenda of 'what happens when
you aren't following (our version of) god's will.'
They will continue their campaign of hateful divide, or promoting
intolerance through legislation, of blaming and scape-goating, of
raising funds from their flock based on the hate they inspired
with gays and lesbians.
And they will see to it that this murderous assault is seen as an
example of what 'good soldiers' are willing to do to enforce
what they see as the law of a 'higher power,' even though it's
their own feelings they promote.
The religious will also deny culpability and avert attention
away from their policies and rhetoric, as though in no way
connected. But as surely as someone gives an arsonist
matches and gasoline, knowing what he is intending to do
with them, the pastors and talking heads and Donald Trumps
of the world stir things up from their soap box and pulpit,
smiling insidiously as their homemade bombs go forth to
ravage and destroy. "But I didn't do anything!"
Manipulators and cowards, all of them.
It's only a matter of time, given the current insane state
of conflict and irrationality, before American-born terrorists
(a.k.a. local church-goers, co-workers, police, and more)
are mirroring this massacre to make their feelings known..,
because they've been told by people in authority that it's just
that important, and it's an acceptable act. Maybe even the
'will of god.' This is the power of those who bend people's
wills with their words.
I'm afraid because this happened so easily.
I'm afraid because it may well happen again.
I'm afraid because this means all of the beatings, assaults,
murders, and tortures of LGBTQ community members
that happen every year from 'god-loving ditto-heads' has
now escalated beyond individual incidents.
I am afraid because our country seems to be on an escalating
path to destruction, each day advancing further and further
into depravity, and so I unfortunately see this not as isolated
incident,' but rather the Beginning.
A 'Beginning' whose origins have been cemented in the
pulpits and on GOP platforms for quite some time.
