A memorial to the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. Photo by Victoria Pickering
Gyasi Ross (Blackfeet / Suquamish), the editor at large for Indian Country Today, discusses the mass shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Florida:
Omar Mateen has become the face of evil in regards to anti-gay violence for viciously massacring 49 people in an Orlando gay club. His actions were so heinous that even people who routinely say hurtful and hateful things about homosexuality have made him a whipping boy and condemned his actions. Good--he obviously should be held accountable! But that doesn’t make those people who say hateful things good—it just makes what Mateen did worse. His actions do not absolve the “smaller” indignities against the LGBTQ community; we still have to take into account all of the people who create an environment that makes Omar Mateen possible and even likely. We still have to acknowledge the accountability of all the little conversations and indignities that forces some LGBTQ members to hide in a closet of shame and fear. Like when I was a child and we played a game called “smear the queer.” Like when I was a child and I sat quietly by as a kid was insulted. I think about “What if the kid in the locker room was gay? What if any kids in the locker room were gay? Of course they’re not going to be comfortable in that situation. Of course they’re going to hide the fact that they’re gay!” The first step in a revolution is love; the second step is accountability and realizing our role in a problem. That means that I have to see how I contributed to that. For my part I’ve apologized and I apologize again. But those experiences made me realize that it's not just the folks who commit these acts of anti-gay violence who have blood on their hands; it's all of us who create an environment that shames gays (or anybody really, but this is specifically about anti-gay violence). I can’t say that we all have blood on our hands, but a whole bunch of us do and we need to recognize our role in these things and not merely point at the faces of evil, the worst of the worst.Get the Story:
Gyasi Ross: (More Than) Prayers For Orlando: Taking Accountability For Our Own Role In Anti-Gay Violence (Indian Country Today 6/16)
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