Since the Orlando shooting, I’ve heard mostly from conservatives that “sexuality has nothing to do with this.” “This was an attack on all Americans.” This is not a generalization - many media outlets are reporting that Republicans are far less likely to mention the victims' identities than Democrats. One Republican representative denied that the attack occurred in a gay nightclub at all.

The RNC’s original response to the shooting stated, “Violence against any group of people simply for their lifestyle or orientation has no place in America or anywhere else.” Regardless of the hypocritical use of the term "lifestyle" (who honestly thinks they would have applied the same term to those living a "wealthy" or "single" lifestyle?), this statement was deleted the next day.

Such erasure actively hurts gay people, who are currently living in a heightened state of fear, as even Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore acknowledged.

As Owen Jones of The Guardian said, “If a terrorist with a track record of expressing hatred of and disgust at Jewish people had walked into a synagogue and murdered 50 Jewish people, we would rightly describe it as both terrorism and an antisemitic attack.”

But conservatives have spent all year arguing that anybody could be a victim except gay people, the villains "undermining religious liberty" and "endangering bathrooms". Thanks to their efforts, many states still don’t classify hate crimes as such if they are related to the victim's orientation.

If they want to maintain their position that gay people are not victims who need protection, better not identify the Orlando victims (or other LGBT victims) as gay. Yet numbers don’t lie, regardless of the agenda they fit.

To add insult to injury, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution just after the shooting to specify their belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

As if the victims and the rest of the LGBT community were not already more violently aware of this view than ever.

After Paris, profile pictures changed for weeks, and Christians posted prayers and support for Paris. A quick Google search shows thousands of Christian blogs lit up with the story of Chick-Fil-A's free food to blood donors, but with little mention of the victims, much less their identities.

Referencing the popular Christian business' act of kindness keeps the focus on the in-group rather than the elephant in the room -- the existence, and deaths, of gay people.

This reveals who will flock to support a trendy cause, but shy away when the victims belonged to a less popular crowd, and who will claim a “pro-life” position yet quietly decide that certain lives are not worth mentioning.

But a handful of conservative leaders, like lieutenant governor of Utah and Rep. Steve King, apologized for past homophobia and outspokenly supported greater protections for LGBT individuals.

If more conservatives follow those examples by supporting such protections, raising awareness of the survivors' financial needs and regularly condemning bullying and hatred based on orientation, it would speak more highly of that community.

Christians who claim to help the scared and hurting can start by acknowledging the hurt.