Tony Enos poses next to a Rainbow Shawl the day after an armed gunman wielding an assault rifle and handgun opened fire at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 50 people and injuring 53, the Two Spirit and LGBTQ communities turned to social media to share their thoughts with worldwide audience. Others in photo include singer Shawnee Talbot, writer D.A. Navoti and youth advocate Layha Spoonhunter (with Obama.) Credit: Twitter, Instagram.
Though the FBI is regarding the attack as an act of a radical terrorist, some Two Spirit and LGBTQ advocates, such as Shawnee Talbot, say the acts are perhaps more appropriately labeled as homophobic.
Talbot is a First Nations singer and songwriter whose work has appeared on Disney TV and the television series “Mohawk Girls” and has shared the stage with Lady Gaga and Roxette, among many others. She identifies as Two Spirit and works as an advocate for LGBTQ and Aboriginal women’s rights.
Talbot said she is “battling with anger and is overwhelmed with sadness by the hateful actions” that have affected her community. “This tragedy was driven by homophobia and hate and it makes me realize how much work we have in front of us,” she said.
Talbot also said she refuses to hide or retreat based on the actions resulting in such a tragedy. “I am even more proud to be who I am as a Two Spirit person,” she explained. “I say to my community, together we will change the world to understand love in its entirety and I love you all so very much for that.”
I’m curious: how is going into a crowded building with a loaded assault rifle and gunning people down, then engaging in an armed stand-off with police, NOT a terrorist attack?
Oh FFS, she meant this wasn’t an act of Islamic terrorism, which is the narrative everyone is jumping on because it’s convenient, and allows bigots a way out of facing the fact of domestic terrorism and profound homophobia.
Don’t play games here, and don’t be playing games on such a serious issue.
Actually, there is something of a serious point here. Terrorism is a conveniently poorly-defined term, as this (admittedly c.15 years old) Grauniad article points out, The definition of terrorism. In the report being discussed, the definition used is very carefully worded so that some attacks on the US military are “terrorism”, but the USA(and, rather conveniently) Israeli military cannot (ever?) commit an act of terrorism, a point which(fast-forwarding to the current time) the people being extrajudicially killed by drone will, I’m sure, be happy to know. And, of course, the CIA blowing up a wedding is clearly not terrorism. (For the sardonically-challenged, there is some snark there.)
As Ye Pffft! of All Knowledge points out, “[G]overnments have been reluctant to formulate an agreed upon, legally binding definition. These difficulties arise from the fact that the term is politically and emotionally charged.” Indeed, the current FBI definition is quite complex, albeit as I currently read it, the mass murder in Orlando is an act of “domestic terrorism” (which is what the authorities have been saying from the beginning).
In any case I would call the incident: Homophobic, Transphobic, Terrorism, Mass Murder, Criminal, … it’s not just one thing, albeit some of those things don’t have widely-agreed definitions.
Of course, as pointed out, what is it not is an act of “Islamic terrorism”. (That is not a snark.)
To be honest, I’ve been asking the same question, because I’ve been seeing people sort of downplaying the terrorism aspect. And it’s precisely the assumption that terrorism (in general) somehow equals Islamic terrorism (specifically) that I think causes a certain amount of harm. I mean, I know what these people mean when they say it wasn’t terrorism. But at the same time, it most definitely was terrorism -- it was homophobic, domestic terrorism, and I think we shouldn’t balk at calling it that. It should be defined as terrorism, and a hate crime, and treated as such. But. For some reason, and I can understand why (and there’s a lot of implications behind defining the word ‘terrorism’ as automatically signifying ‘Islamic terrorism’), people hesitate to call it that, but at the same time, that is what it is, isn’t it?
Of course it should be defined as [domestic] terrorism, but in this particular case, I find the nitpicking to be intolerable. When everywhere you turn, there are people refusing to say this had anything to do with queer people, it had nothing to do with homophobia, erasing the identity of those who are dead, those who are injured, and those who survived, when you have people jumping all over you because they say the survivors and those at the vigils should not allow Muslims, Christians, or other theists to stand with them because religious terrorism; when you find people, at every fucking turn going full court Sam Harris, it is infuriating.
Okay, I can see your point.
For those who would prefer to nitpick the whole terrorism thing apart, rather than focus on the reality of what happened, some suggested reading:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/atg/2016/06/14/what-do-the-cologne-rapes-and-the-pulse-shooting-have-in-common/
http://www.advocate.com/media/2016/6/13/dont-straight-splain-attack-us
As I said in a different thread: