The Aftermath of Orlando
By Ally Bolour
The Orlando massacre was different. It was a direct attack on our community by one of our own; a despicable mass murderer stuck in a closet, from which, he could not escape. His solution to his miserable life was to end it – and to the horror of the entire world – he took 49 innocent, beautiful young souls with him.
None of us were born into the closet. We were put in there – essentially boxed in – to make other people feel better about themselves – never mind the pain and suffering we endured as a result. Over the years, and to varying degrees and culpabilities, our politicians, the clergy, educators, and members of our own families have been the prime architects of our respective closets. For those of us who found the key and got out – Mozoltov – and to those who are still struggling to get out – don’t ever give up.
Closet makes its inhabitants helpless and a bunch of conformists. It was no surprise then that right after the Orlando terrorist struck – the media and all the talking heads proclaimed that it was ISIS inspired. They attempted to negate the reality that it was a homophobic crime committed by a US born monster, raised in the closet. The media wrongly assumed that our community would just accept their inaccurate and irresponsible explanation that it was an ISIS inspired attack. Indeed, they attempted to absolve themselves from any responsibility.
To be clear – I believe that ISIS is evil and that the extermination of our community is listed high on their agenda. They may even have auxiliary responsibility for what happened in Orlando. The prime culprits however, in addition to the murderer, live in our own communities. Politicians who are paid by the NRA or otherwise have a distorted Victorian view of the world in the 21st century, members of the clergy who pray to a hateful God, and everyone in our society who feels their bigoted religious and personal views should somehow trump our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are all collectively responsible.
So when Donald Trump promotes a ban on Muslim immigration, or a wall on our borders – when the Republicans fear our existence and actually debate where we may pee while in North Carolina, or when Obama is called a Muslim homosexual – its all an attempt by the haters to shame and control us and put us back into a new closet, so they may have their way.
America is a nation of immigrants of all races, faiths and backgrounds. The glue that binds us together is love, not fear. So please say no to the fear mongers. Also make sure to vote in November so we may literally throw out all of these hate mongers!