The Massacre In Orlando Is A Grim Reminder For Millions Of LGBT Americans

Early in the morning on Sunday, June 12, a man who had pledged allegiance to ISIS walked up to Pulse Nightclub in Orlando with an AR-15 assault rifle, a handgun and an explosive device. He went on to murder 49 people and leave 53 more injured in what has become the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States and the second-deadliest mass shooting in the world.

The mass murder was a lot of different things. It was an example of the United States' continued inability to deal with its growing gun violence problem. It was an attack on American soil by someone inspired by ISIS, whom ISIS has claimed as its own. It was a way to frighten the citizens of one of America's great cities. 

However, to millions of people around the world, it was a personal attack on our very lifestyle. Pulse Nightclub was a gay bar, frequented by Orlando's LGBTQIA+ community. The attack, no matter what else it was or what else was wrapped up in it, was a direct attack on gay men and women in a place, perhaps for some the only place, where they feel safe to be themselves.

Soon after the massacre hit the news, Republican politicians hit Twitter with their favorite line, offering "thoughts and prayers" to the families of the victims. Offering empty thoughts and prayers is nothing new from the men and women who literally have the power to stop this from happening again, but refuse to do so. But this time, the thoughts and prayers felt even more empty and disgusting.

Good ol' Mike Huckabee here? One of the first I saw to offer his super meaningful totally and completely useless thoughts and prayers? Well, he staunchly opposes the families he's mentioning here. He doesn't believe gay men and women should be allowed to be married or have children. 

Huckabee is hardly the only example of the GOP ignoring the facts of the shooting in disgusting ways.

Omar Mateen called 911 just before he opened fire to pledge his allegiance to ISIS. Hours after this information was released, ISIS radio claimed he was "one of the solders of the caliphate in America." There's no way to know if this is all true, or if ISIS saw an opportunity and jumped on it. One thing is for sure, though: There are a lot of people who want to diminish the fact that this had anything to do with gay people, and want to shift the focus exclusively to ISIS. 

Ironically, though, the people who want you to believe that are on opposite sides. The people who want to gloss over the homophobic nature of the attack are both members of the Islamic State and the Republicans who claim to be fighting tooth and nail against ISIS. Republicans don't want to admit that they share that homophobia with terrorists.

The shooter in this incident was a Muslim, which of course led to people down the normal path of disgusting anti-Muslim rhetoric. GOP Presidential Nominee Donald Trump thanked people for congratulating him on "being right" while once again calling for his ban on Muslims entering the country. 

First of all, let's remember that Trump could be President. Great job, Republicans—you really picked a winner there. But what's more, let's remember that the shooter was born in the United States. Not sure how Trump plans to stop people from being born, but you can bet your ass he'll use fear to pit us against all Muslims.

German Lopez at Vox said it best: "Don't use an attack on my community as an excuse for Islamophobia." It's so important to not let people pit two marginalized groups against each other. No group is represented by the actions of a few. If they were, young white men would have been driven out long ago.

I consider myself to be incredibly lucky. I've been out of the closet as a gay man for more than 10 years now and have never really experienced much homophobia firsthand. Sure, I've been called a "faggot" by some coward in a passing car, and have dealt with people who are fairly hateful, but that kind of stuff is easy for me to brush off my shoulders.

I've been open about being HIV+ and I recently spent a good portion of one day in drag. I walk down the street in Boystown here in Chicago with gay friends and I kiss them goodbye without ever being fearful of the consequences. I'm thankful to the men and women who came before me who allowed me to have these freedoms, and I took them for granted.

Orlando was a sobering reminder to never take these freedoms for granted. It was a reminder of, as Dave Holmes puts it so eloquently, what it costs to be gay in America. 

According to the Omar Mateen's father, he had become angry when, on a recent trip to Miami, he saw two men kissing. Then, on Sunday, Mateen went into a gay club and murdered 49 people. Two men kissing is still, in 2016, apparently a brave act of defiance against hate. That is why every person sharing a photo with the hashtag #TwoMenKissing are truly heroes.

The gun that was used in the deadliest mass shooting in our nation's history was an AR-15. A variant on the M-16 used by the military, the AR-15 is a popular choice of rifle for mass shooters. It is the same gun that was used in Aurora, Colorado; Newtown, Connecticut; and San Bernardino, California. According to the NRA, it is a gun intended to be used for hunting and home defense.

I'm not sure what, exactly, AR-15 owners are hunting, or what perceived threat they need to defend their homes from, but unless it's The Predator, I'm pretty sure the AR-15 isn't necessary. 

The gunman in this case had been investigated by the FBI twice in the past. Despite being on a terror watchlist, and he had absolutely no problem buying the AR-15. This partly due to GOP senators, in December, blocking a bill that would have prevented those on the terrorist watch list from purchasing guns. 

Yes, that is right. Every person's right to purchase that same military-grade rifle, including the right of suspected terrorists, is more important than the dozens of lives that have been ended because of this gun.

But, as Chris Sacca points out in the above tweet, lawn darts are banned in the U.S. after just three deaths over 18 years.

It is terribly easy to feel helpless in these situations. After all, President Obama got up after the shooting and gave a speech he has given 14 times before. Every one of these situations follows the same script, so it's easy to feel like nothing we do matters. 

Change isn't easy, but easy things are rarely worth doing. We have the power to change this system. We have the power to make a difference. It will take time, but we can do it.