As many of you all know, the tragic mass shooting that took place on Saturday, June 11 in a nightclub called Pulse in Orlando, Florida has been all over the media. It's been labelled as the biggest mass shooting in U.S. history with as many as 50 people killed and 53 injured. With more details of the case rolling out, many news channels and websites have been updating their information for the public. However the more I watch the news, the less information I get and the more erasure I see.
The main news channels (including CNN and ABC News) that I have been watching have been focusing on the suspect, Omar Mateen (who exchanged gunfire with the police which resulted in his death), or more specifically, his religion. Though his father outwardly admitted that Mateen was not very religious, for the media, it seems as if that piece of information was suddenly irrelevant. Multiple connections have been made that Mateen was connected to ISIS even though his ex-wife told the news that Mateen had never been remotely influenced by radical Islam. There has been no clear evidence that he was connected to any radical Islam group, so why relay that false information to the public?
This was not a terrorist act committed in the wakes of religion, and to pin it on the fact that it could've been is clearly Islamophobic. Jacob Topia, a speaker, writer, and activist for LGBTQ rights, wrote a Facebook post that went viral eloquently bringing out this false assumption into the spotlight:
More importantly, the erasure I've seen with homophobia about this shooting is sickening. His father said when Mateen saw two men kissing a few weeks ago in Miami, he became angry. Yet, on the news, this is nowhere to be seen or heard. It is important to recognize that Omar Mateen was homophobic.
Even worse, the sexual identities of these victims of this shooting have also been erased. I have not seen the word "gay" once on any of these news television but instead the word "religion" every where. This is a problem. We must acknowledge the fact tha Pulse was a gay nightclub. We must also acknowledge that Saturday night was an Upscale Latin Night meaning many LGBTQ Latina and Latinx were present. We must acknowledge that this was a hate crime against LGBTQ people for being LGBTQ.
The racial and sexual identities of victims are often overlooked in mass media when they should not be. It is important to know who it happened to, and it is important to realize why you should never erase information like that. People of color deserve better than that. LGBTQ people deserve better than that. The victims deserve better than that. These people's lives have been taken away from them solely because of who they choose to love. Let that be known.
The problem with erasure in mass media that I've noticed specifically with this tragedy is that it erasures the main point. Turning 50 deaths and 53 injured victims of homophobia into Islamophobia is not only extremely disrespectful to those who have been affected but also putting the blame somewhere it does not need to be. We must remember that this was a hate crime.
My thoughts and prayers are with those who are affected by this tragedy. My solidarity goes out to the LGBTQ people and people of color that have been affected by this tragedy. Stay strong and stay safe. There is so much I have to say about this yet so much I cannot. I'm at a loss of words. So, I leave you with this - President Obama's speech on this shooting. Unfortunately, it's his 18th speech on mass shootings since he's been in office yet he still poignantly and eloquently says everything that needs to be said.
If you would like to help out in any way or offer your support in this tragedy, please click here for multiple links and sources. #OrlandoStrong
