by Dylan Jones
What happened in Orlando over the weekend marks a grisly point in LGBT history. It is a physical, merciless attack on our way of life and the values and freedoms we treasure most. When America’s biggest terror attack since 9/11 is targeted at such a close-knit, comparatively small group of people, it carries unignorable significance. The fact that it was during the Pride season hurts all the more, making us feel scared and powerless at a point when we should be feeling our strongest and proudest.
It is important to note that the UK mainstream press has been hugely incompetent on its coverage of the events. On Sunday night, writer Owen Jones quite rightly walked out of a Sky News interview when a fellow guest and one of the presenters interviewing him implied that the attack was not homophobic. He pointed out that if the attack had been on a synagogue, it would unquestionably have been treated as anti-Semitic. Sky News and the presenter involved have come under fire from gay rights groups and the general public.
The BBC have also been vastly criticised for their failure to cover the events, showing hours of footage of the Queen’s birthday celebrations, rather than covering one of the biggest terrorist attacks of the century.
It emerged this morning too that The Daily Mail failed to report it at all, instead advertising a pair of pearl earrings and a picture pull-out of the Queen’s birthday, with not a word about the attacks.
Obviously questions have been raised as to the motives and reasoning behind this lack of reporting. Many are saying that such apathetic responses show that, despite appearances to the contrary, a lot of people in high places still don’t care what happens to our community. As well as remembering the events in Orlando, we need to remember this, and consider what it implies.
The horror that unfolded on Sunday morning at Pulse in Orlando shows that homophobia is still very real, and it’s right on our doorstep. Acrid, senseless hatred still exists, and it can slither directly into the heart of our community and sink its poisonous fangs into our necks.
It would be easy to feel beaten, hopeless or defeated. To just keep our heads down and stay safe. It would also be easy to ignore it. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could just turn up the volume on our Ab Fab boxsets, pour another gin and tonic, and pretend none of it had happened. But that’s just not good enough. We can no longer sit in our living rooms and do nothing. Patsy certainly wouldn’t stand for it, that’s for sure. She’d be storming down Old Compton Street, shouting “PISS OFF!” and brandishing a bottle of Bollinger.
That said, we should also try not to react with anger. Anger will hurt no-one but ourselves. The way to respond is not with aggression, or hatred towards other minorities, but with love. The aim of attacks like this is to make us blind with rage, and to divide us in our views. We need to resist that and stick together, with each other and with our allies of all backgrounds, sexualities and religions.
We need to stay grounded, stay logical and above all, stay proud. Wear what we want, go where we want, hold hands with who we want. This summer, our Pride celebrations here in London and across the world should be more euphoric, glittering and defiant than ever. Extremists like the Orlando attacker Omar Mateen are lonely, lost people. Let’s show them how great it is to be colourful, joyful and free.
A vigil is being held in Soho tonight from 7pm to commemorate the Orlando attack. More info here.
Photo: Hilary Swift
