Posted by Tina
Daily Mail reports that ISIS is claiming responsibility for the attack in Orlando (Mail Link warns of graphic content). The FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism.
Through interviews with former employees, the Miami Herald tells us a bit about the people who were targeted and slaughtered as they danced and socialized a popular club in Orlando, Florida:
…the gay bar where early Sunday dozens of people were massacred — 50 slain, 53 wounded — is one of Central Florida’s most popular LGBT nightspots, according to several stunned former employees.
“Pulse is like a family. Everybody who works there is treated equally. Treated like brothers and sisters. When somebody is hurting or in need, we always look out for each other,” said Benjamin Di’Costa, 25, a former Pulse dancer who later lived in Broward County and now works as an HIV counselor in Chicago.
The nightclub, which caters to a younger clientele, is about a half-mile from Orlando’s downtown area, Di’Costa said. …
…”Very trendy club, mostly younger, different demographics. It’s been one of the most popular clubs. They’ve been around about 10 years,” he said.
Di’Costa said that on most nights, Pulse would be filled with between 500 and 600 patrons, but that on a “high capacity” night like Saturday, up to 800 people might be there. …
… “Saturdays are Latin nights, so it’s primarily Latinos of all ages,” he said. “It’s usually a later crowd, so people come closer to the close of the club. They close at 2. It was right at the time of closing, when people are starting to exit.” …
…”Pulse usually hires armed off-duty police officers who stay in the parking lot outside. They have security inside, the bouncers. Trouble before? Not to my knowledge, nothing that involved weapons.” …
…”A lot of my friends are entertainers at the club. I come from the family of bartenders and DJs and dancers and they all work at Pulse,” Choy said. “It’s one of the few high-end gay clubs. Orlando doesn’t have that many gay clubs. Pulse is one of the high-end ones that offers great entertainers, many from RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
Di’Costa and Choy both described Pulse as being a cozy club with two main rooms. Patrons enter and either turn left to a smaller performance space with dancers and drag shows, or right to a larger dance space that connects to an outdoor patio behind the club. …
…”It’s a very, very small space. Either room you go into,” Choy said. “If you go to your left, there’s a small room with the stage. That’s what worries me, if there was any type of shooting, it wouldn’t take much to get everyone. Very close range.” …
…Everyone there is really close, he said. “They’re the families gay people pick when their own families don’t accept them.”
The names of some of the victims are listed on the Miami Herald site. I mourn for the victims, the wounded, the traumatized, and dead (RIP) and for the family and friends who love them.
Many of the politicians offering thoughts and prayers voted against civil rights protections for LGBT people; because of that, some of the survivors of the attack could find themselves outed and fired today.
The state’s governor, Rick Scott (R), quickly offered his condolences to the families of those who were hurt and killed. “It’s devastating when you see how many people lost their life, and just the impact it’s gonna have on their families — I mean, I’ve got kids and grandkids — can’t imagine,” he said, as well as, “This a wonderful community… right now this is the time to grieve.”
Yet any gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender survivors of the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman on U.S. soil could show up at work on Monday morning, only to be fired from their jobs for their identity and find themselves without any protection from their state’s laws.
Florida is one of the many states that doesn’t have many legislative protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. The state has no laws prohibiting employers from unfairly firing, discriminating against, or refusing to hire LGBT people. The state also lacks any laws prohibiting discrimination in housing — such as unfair eviction, the denial of housing, or the refusal to rent or sell housing — or in public accommodations and credit and lending.
Florida’s lawmakers have also done little to change this picture, despite offering their support for the victims of the shooting. Saying that “the gay community was targeted in this attack,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R) said, “My focus is on the fact that innocent people who were doing nothing wrong, with plans to be somewhere doing something this afternoon, lost their lives.” Yet in 2013, when the Senate voted on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a federal bill that would prohibit job discrimination against LGBT people nationwide, Rubio voted against it. (The Equality Act, a much broader bill that would add LGBT people to the protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was introduced in Congress last year but hasn’t even gotten a vote yet.)
The Other Topic Republicans Avoided In Response To The Orlando Shooting
Many more Congresspeople from Florida were offering their condolences in the wake of the massacre. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) tweeted, “My thoughts & prayers are with the victims, families & people of Orlando” and called it a “barbaric terrorist attack.” Rep. John Mica said in a statement, “The whole community is shocked and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and the families from these events.” Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R) said he “mourn[s] the tragic loss of life,” adding, “Orlando, we are all here for you.” Rep. Dennis Ross (R) called it an “evil act” and added, “I ask all Americans to join me in prayer for the victims and their families.” Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) tweeted, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.”
Yet just last month, all of them were part of a group of 12 Florida Representatives who voted against an amendment that would have prohibited federal funds from going to contractors who discriminate against their employees on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
And a bill in the Florida legislature that would have added employment and housing protections for LGBT people died when it failed to pass out of a Senate committee in February thanks to objections from Republicans who feared transgender girls using women’s bathrooms and locker rooms. One of the state Senators who voted against it, Jeff Brandes (R), posted on Facebook, “Praying for our Orlando neighbors.”
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/06/13/3787664/lgbt-protection-orlando-shooting/
Thoughts and prayers aren’t enough.
Thoughts and prayers aren’t enough, but neither is avoiding the words “radical islam” and insisting gun control is the answer like those on the left.
Chris, as a conservative I’ll meet you halfway and say that hatred is an evil thing that we need to work to root out. Advocating for the killing of gay people is wrong no matter who does it, but let’s first understand that the greatest number of gay people being murdered right now is not from Jews or Christians or TEA partiers in Idaho. Radical Islam is currently the greatest threat.
I will meet liberals in the middle if they will meet me there as well. No more accusing conservatives of hatred and bigotry if we don’t agree on gay marriage or if we believe men shouldn’t be allowed in the same bathroom with little girls. These are policy decisions that we have a right to disagree on. Violence is a completely different ballgame and I am opposed to violence against people for their sexual orientation.
The question is how to stop this hatred. If there was a sudden increase in catholics murdering gays I’m sure the left would have no problem calling on the Pope to come up with a solution. Even liberal Bill Maher has repeatedly pointed out that there is no similar calling on Islamic leaders from the American left. Why is this? Why can’t we simply talk about radical Islam and what it’s doing in the world? If Charlie Hebdo was not enough to spark some genuine concern from the left, will Orlando do the trick?
Steve: “Chris, as a conservative I’ll meet you halfway and say that hatred is an evil thing that we need to work to root out. Advocating for the killing of gay people is wrong no matter who does it, but let’s first understand that the greatest number of gay people being murdered right now is not from Jews or Christians or TEA partiers in Idaho. Radical Islam is currently the greatest threat.”
Yes, I agree. I’ve said that many times.
“I will meet liberals in the middle if they will meet me there as well. No more accusing conservatives of hatred and bigotry if we don’t agree on gay marriage or if we believe men shouldn’t be allowed in the same bathroom with little girls.”
Wait. Why should liberals not accuse conservatives of hatred and bigotry for those positions, when we truly believe those positions are motivated by hatred and bigotry?
I have never heard a logical reason to oppose same-sex marriage. Not one. And same-sex marriage opponents have certainly tried. The best they could come up with was “children deserve a mother and a father,” which is a true statement, but has nothing to do with same-sex marriage. Like, at all; allowing same-sex marriage does not stop any kid, anywhere, from having a mother and father.
Since there are no logical reasons to oppose same-sex marriage, it only makes sense that the justifications are a cover for bigotry. And that doesn’t mean wild-eyed, seering hate; it means the belief, whether conscious or unconscious, that gay people are less important than other people.
I see the same implicit belief in the arguments against trans people using the bathrooms of their gender identity, which I’ll expand on in a moment.
“These are policy decisions that we have a right to disagree on.”
Of course you have the right to disagree. No one is contesting that right.
But you seem to be suggesting that you have the right to not be called a bigot for advocating bigoted policy. There is no such right.
“Violence is a completely different ballgame and I am opposed to violence against people for their sexual orientation.”
I understand that. But you haven’t thought this through. The bathroom laws currently being floated by conservatives invite violence onto the transgender community. All you’d have to do to realize this is listen to what trans people themselves say, or look up stats about violence against trans people. Someone like Laverne Cox would not feel safe in a men’s restroom (and transphobic men certainly would not want her in there). But bathroom laws stating one must use the room of one’s birth gender would force her to use the men’s restroom. That is placing her life in danger in order to fight the hypothetical threat of cis men using trans-inclusive bathrooms to assault cis women.
So again, what you’re saying is that trans people are less important than cis people. So much so that actual, documented violence against them in public restrooms is less important than hypothetical, imaginary violence against cis women by cis men takins advantage of trans-friendly bathrooms. And you’re arguing that trans people have to suffer for the crimes of cis male predators.
That’s bigoted. I’m sorry, but that’s what it is. Insisting that we not call it what it is so as not to offend conservatives is political correctness.
“Even liberal Bill Maher has repeatedly pointed out that there is no similar calling on Islamic leaders from the American left.”
Bill Maher, as he often is, is wrong. Many Islamic leaders in the US have spoken out against this act, as well as every other Islamic terrorist act over the past fifteen years. Just because you didn’t hear about it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Google it.
From what Chris wrote, “Yet any gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender survivors of the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman on U.S. soil could show up at work on Monday morning, only to be fired from their jobs for their identity and find themselves without any protection from their state’s laws.”
NO THEY COULDN’T, THATS A BLATANT LIE AND IF YOU BELIEVE IT, YOU ARE AN IDIOT. LBGT’s are protected just as much as anyone else by the law of the land. Chris for many years the United States has protected the LBGT community from discrimination with federal civil rights laws.
Yes, many states have copied the laws of the federal government to underscore civil rights as enforced by the EEOC, but not all have because it was not necessary. Just because a state has no locally crafted law regarding discrimination does not make discrimination okay, as you would have us believe and as quoted by Governor Idiot looking for votes. Quite the contrary, the federal anti-discrimination laws give the LBGT people the same rights as anyone else, period!
Protective LBGT laws can be traced all the way back to 1964 with the Civil Rights Act, in particular Section VII. That section does protect individuals from sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination so says the Supreme Court. There have been a number of lower court cases that have upheld and affirmed the nation’s law on this too! Botton line here is, Federal takes priority over State law, it’s the highest authority you can have in the USA, and the last time I checked Florida was part of the U.S.
2016 – Now we have arrived at dealing with the fine print of what is discrimination and what is common sense and community values.
The liberals want to force everyone to be okay with allowing a male who (allegedly) thinks he is a female to use the bathrooms of females and other female only areas.
One of the first to object to this were female athletes who said, a male runner, tennis player, etc., should not be allowed to compete against females even though he feels he is a female or has had sexual reassignment. There have been many challenges to sports rules because of this and it is not a clear cut case for either side.
Now lets talk about bathrooms in school, there is no simple solution to this, but liberals would want us to believe the solution is as simple just letting anyone use any bathroom they choose because no sexual predator would ever take advantage of this confusion. No child would ever be put at risk! Even though many times the progressive side has said, “If it would save just one child isn’t it worth it.” But, they would casually gamble with the safety of children on this issue because it feels so good to embrace the gay community and to let the world know how open minded and wonderful they are, even if it kills children.
The hypocrisy of the liberals never fails to amaze me. And then here you are jumping right on that same liberal bandwagon! And you are a teacher?! You refused to see the risks for the same reasons the rest of the liberals do, you would rather charge headlong into high risk policies that could have profound costs and negatively impact children.
This is not simple Chris! There deserves to be a lot of careful analysis before we go there. But, but right now all the basics have been covered as far as civil rights go. The LBGT people are protected to same degree we are all protected! They are equal, equal, equal in all the ways that I am equal or you are equal. So, lets not try to make this into a civil rights case equal to the days of Martin Luther King just because of bathroom assignments.
Jack:
“Protective LBGT laws can be traced all the way back to 1964 with the Civil Rights Act, in particular Section VII. That section does protect individuals from sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination so says the Supreme Court.”
Wrong. The Supreme Court has not weighed in on this issue. While you are right that the federal EEOC has said the Civil Rights Act applies to sexual orientation (and that was only as recently as last year), without a Supreme Court ruling or federal law their decision lacks teeth. It’s also important to note that the EEOC’s opinion was opposed by many conservatives, and most of the lawmakers who oppose state laws protecting people from being fired for being gay do not cite the Civil Rights Act as already applying; they claim that such laws would undermine religious freedom. In other words, they believe Christian employers should be able to fire employees for being gay, and that forbidding them from doing so violates their religious rights.
Please don’t call me an idiot when you do not have all the facts.
“Now lets talk about bathrooms in school, there is no simple solution to this, but liberals would want us to believe the solution is as simple just letting anyone use any bathroom they choose because no sexual predator would ever take advantage of this confusion.”
I don’t understand. Are you talking about adult predators? What would they be doing in a school bathroom of any sort?
And we don’t argue that they should be able to use “any bathroom they choose.” We argue they should be able to use the one corresponding to their gender identity. This is the safest and most comfortable solution for all people, unless you want to share a restroom with Laverne Cox and your daughter to share a restroom with Kingston Faraday. (Google these people and see if you’d be comfortable with that.)
As for predators, most target members of the same sex due to the access they already have to them. We allow strange adult men to share bathrooms with little boys all the time, despite knowing that make pedophiles often target little boys. No one has ever, to my knowledge, proposed a bathroom law to protect these little boys. There’s a weird form of sexism that seems to pervade this argument–do little girls matter more than little boys? If not, why are we so concerned with keeping “men” (actually transwomen) out of women’s bathrooms? It doesn’t make any sense.
I agree the “if it just saves one child” argument is stupid, and I’m embarrassed at having made it in the past. But you have to weigh risk with reward. And the fact is, trans people are at far more risk of violence and sexual harassment than cis people. That fact is indisputable. Their safety concerns are real. The concern that cis make predators will use trans-friendly laws to sneak into women’s bathrooms is, to my knowledge, unfounded. And even if it’s true, why are we punishing innocent trans people for that? Hell, how about a law that says cis men can’t use public restrooms at all, since we’re the ones doing the majority of the raping and harassing. We can then allow women and trans women and trans men to pee in peace. Don’t like that? Think it’s bigoted? Well, that’s a taste of what trans people go through every day.
Most trans people are already very careful about what bathroom they use. They have to be in order to survive. Someone like Laverne Cox would not be safe in a men’s restroom, but conservative-backed laws saying she must use the bathroom of her birth gender would force her to either put herself at risk, or break the law to use the women’s room. This law would just create more lawbreakers.
Conservatives believe that more gun laws won’t stop gun violence, but they think more bathroom laws will stop rape and sexual assault? It’s illogical.
Just because you have a cynical bias against business owners doesn’t mean you have a clue about how these people will be treated.
If the conditions in Florida are so bad why do people live there?
Your hysteria is unnecessary. Once again this horrendous act brings out the political. “Never let an opportunity to advance your cause go to waste.
Shame on YOU Chris!
LGBT community supporters like Chris would have us believe they are the only persecuted group in the world and individuals the only ones to face work place discrimination. The drama and the constant need to be the center of attention is wearing thin.
As far as I’m concerned the kind of club this was matters not one wit, the people inside were Americans (to my knowledge) and that’s all that matters. Determination to defeat this cancer should be on our minds right now and that includes the failure of our government to stop this man before he acted.
In terms of this post, it was meant to be an opportunity to express sorrow for those affected and move our attention to those responsible.
The left is using these people to advance their domestic agenda…that is sick. Unfortunately it is also predictable.
Tina: “Just because you have a cynical bias against business owners doesn’t mean you have a clue about how these people will be treated.”
What on earth are you talking about? I never said all business owners or even most would fire people for being gay. But it is something that has happened, and many conservative lawmakers want that to be legal. Are you denying this?
“If the conditions in Florida are so bad why do people live there?”
Again, what are you talking about? I am saying people in Florida can be fired for being gay. Do you believe this is just?
“Your hysteria is unnecessary.”
There’s no hysteria. I pointed out a fact; that people in many states, including Florida, can be fired for being gay, and that conservative lawmakers want this to stay legal. How is pointing that out hysterical?
“LGBT community supporters like Chris would have us believe they are the only persecuted group in the world”
You are ridiculous. You don’t even believe what you are saying; you know I have spoken out against persecution against other groups. Why are you saying so many absurd things?
“and individuals the only ones to face workplace discrimination”
What does this even mean? Who else but individuals would face workplace discrimination? You’re not even being coherent at this point.
“As far as I’m concerned the kind of club this was matters not one wit”
It mattered to the terrorist, who hated gay people. That’s why he targeted a gay club. Are you denying this?
“The left is using these people to advance their domestic agenda…that is sick.”
You are such a hypocrite. Where is your condemnation of Trump for using the same incident to advance his agenda? Where is your outrage for his “I told you so” response, when the terrorist wasn’t even an immigrant?
What amazingly incoherent, content-free drivel you’ve just posted. Two comments and neither of them said a damn relevant thing. And all to avoid the simple question of whether or not employers should be able to fire employees for being gay.