In the three Abrahamic religions, there are passages on homosexuality as a sin. These religions' respected holy books have specific passages that condemn homosexuality and anything relating to that. These books were written thousands of years ago, and many things have changed since then, but that is not the main point of this article.
Last Sunday, around 100 individuals were either killed or injured by a gunman who claimed to be a Muslim, but he does not represent what it means to be a Muslim or anyone that practices Islam.
The Islamic State or anyone affiliated with them does not represent what it means to be a Muslim. Omar Mateen, and individuals like him no matter what religion (I'll get to that later), have used religion as a means to justify their hatred. We know this man was a homophobe, we know he was racist, and we know (from his past marriage) that he treated women in his life badly. His target was planned, and it was not targeted the American people as a whole.
This American-born man attacked Pulse, a safe haven for the people of the LGBT+ community. His hatred for those in the LGBT+ community led him to commit these horrible actions; it doesn't matter what his religion is because various religions have these beliefs. Mateen wanted to be a martyr, and pledging to ISIS would have done that. His relation to them is he wants to be looked upon by people like that as a hero.
The other religions are not off the hook with their homophobia. We pray for the victims but we are unaware of the struggle it is to be part of the LGBT+ community. We pray for the victims, but we do not see the other forms of discrimination. Congress gives a moment of silence for the victims, but there are individuals in those seats that would like to ban gay marriage because their religion believes that a man cannot lie with another man.
It was not too long ago that multiple states passed a law to allow the discrimination of people in the LGBT+ community due to the "protection" of religious beliefs. How can you pray for a group of people you despise any other day? Oh, the hypocrisy! We all should know that homophobia and any other discrimination towards sexuality or gender come in different forms. It isn't broadly defined because we have seen legal discrimination and we have seen violent discrimination, and both have very harmful everlasting effects on people of the LGBT+ community. There are people in power that have the same beliefs about sexuality as Omar Mateen, they just had the power to discriminate in a way that hides their hate.
This was a hate crime towards people who already struggle enough in America. No matter what religion, there is no excuse for the discrimination of other people. Those who want to throw the first stone at LGBT+ individuals sin as well. There are individuals who want to discriminate that use a book (the Bible) created thousands of years ago to justify their actions.
You, my friends, are no better than Omar Mateen because he felt the same way. The laws of Leviticus have no power compared to The 10 Commandments, the unbreakable laws of Judaism and Christianity, and same goes for the Golden Rule Jesus preached. LGBT+ individuals are the victims here, and we must remember that.
