FBI Will Investigate Whether Orlando Shooter’s Sexuality Motivated Attack on Gay Nightclub – VIDEO

The FBI will reportedly investigate what role, if any, the Orlando shooter’s sexuality played in motivating his attack on the gay nightclub Pulse.

The news comes following preliminary reports from survivors and Pulse regulars who said they believe the shooter was gay. Those individuals said they had seen the shooter before, both in the club and online on gay dating apps. 

The Guardian reports:

A conference call held late on Monday pulled together representatives from the FBI and departments of justice and homeland security with 358 civil-rights-minded leaders, particularly from the LGBT and American Muslim groups, a senior US official told the Guardian, to share information and hear concerns from communities reeling from one of the worst incidents of gun violence in recent US history.

FBI officials on the call “indicated they would follow up” on reports that shooter Omar Mateen had on a number of occasions visited the LGBT nightclub Pulse where he killed 49 and wounded 52 on Sunday.

Muslim leaders on the call reportedly expressed “condolences and significant support” for LGBT communities.

Watch an interview with one Pulse regular who said he saw the Orlando shooter at Pulse before the night of the attack, below.

The post FBI Will Investigate Whether Orlando Shooter’s Sexuality Motivated Attack on Gay Nightclub – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

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Rachel Maddow Looks Back at the History of Attacks on Gay Bars – WATCH

Rachel Maddow on Monday ran through a timeline of hate-motivated attacks on gay bars carried out in the last half century, the same period when gay communities began to organize and associate publicly.

As we reported yesterday, the brutal massacre in Orlando wasn’t the first time gay Americans have been the target of violence.

RELATED: 25 Violent Attacks at Gay Bars That Preceded Orlando’s Horrific Nightclub Massacre

From the Stonewall Riots, to the horrific attack on the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans in 1973 (where 32 people lost their lives), to the bombing of a lesbian bar by Atlanta Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph, to the arson, “The gay community in the United States knows from violence,” as Maddow said. Maddow points out, “Stonewall is not a place [where the LGBT community] had meetings. Stonewall is a place they had a riot.”

She added, “The gay community in this country is forged in fire to a certain extent. And it’s therefore a tough community. But what just happened in Orlando it isn’t just an attack on the gay community. This time it’s the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.”

Watch as Maddow explains how the Orlando massacre may have been the worst anti-gay attack in U.S. history, but was far from the first, below.

You can also watch a clip in which Maddow recaps some of the vigils held around the world yesterday for the Orlando victims.

The post Rachel Maddow Looks Back at the History of Attacks on Gay Bars – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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HRC Recognizes World Blood Donor Day

As health officials plead for blood donations following the horrific attack in Orlando over the weekend, HRC marks World Blood Donor Day. However, it is important to note that there continues to be a ban preventing men who have sex with men from donating life-saving blood.

“Now is the moment to lift the ban. It’s dated, unfair and stigmatizes the LGBT community,” said David Stacy, Director of Government Affairs. “Dozens of LGBTQ people are in need of urgent care in Florida today. So even as we honor World Blood Donor Day, we need to be honest about a policy that’s no longer justifiable.”

In Orlando, there is an urgent need for O Negative, O Positive and AB Plasma blood donors. To find a donation center or Big Red Bus near you visit www.oneblood.org or call 1.888.9.Donate.

Earlier today, Congressmen Mike Quigley, Xavier Becerra, Jared Polis, Sam Farr, Brian Higgins, Alcee Hastings, and Sean Patrick Maloney and Congresswomen Barbara Lee, Norma Torres, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Diana DeGette held a press conference on Capitol Hill and call on the Food and Drug Administration to end this discriminatory policy banning blood among gay and bisexual men once and for all. HRC Director of Policy David Stacy also spoke.

The American Red Cross, America’s Blood Centers, and the American Association of Blood Banks have characterized the blood ban as medically and scientifically unwarranted as far back as 2006.

The federal policy that bans gay and bisexual men from giving blood is unfair and outdated. Based on the most recent science, it’s not only unjustifiable — it’s stigmatizing. If there was ever a moment that shows the blood ban should be lifted, it’s right now– when dozens of LGBTQ people are lying wounded in hospitals across Orlando in need of urgent care.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-recognizes-world-blood-donor-day?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

#SayTheirNames #WeAreOrlando

www.glaad.org/blog/saytheirnames-weareorlando

The Baptist Pastor Who Cheered Orlando Murders Isn't Alone

Orlando is better off without LGBT people, the pastor said on a videotaped sermon.

www.advocate.com/religion/2016/6/14/baptist-pastor-who-cheered-orlando-murders-isnt-alone

Watch Fla. Attorney General Pretend She Didn't Stab Gays in the Back

Anderson Cooper wouldn’t let the Republican litigator off the hook for perpetuating homophobia in the Sunshine State.

www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2016/6/14/watch-fla-attorney-general-pretend-she-didnt-stab-gays-back

Lady Gaga: 'Orlando, We Are United With You'

The “Born This Way” singer delivered a powerful speech at a Los Angeles rally for the victims of the Orlando shooting.

www.advocate.com/people/2016/6/14/lady-gaga-orlando-we-are-united-you

Anderson Cooper Rails Against Florida AG: Are You Really A ‘Champion’ Of Gay Rights?

When Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi ingratiated herself to Anderson Cooper during a live CNN interview in Orlando, she surely expected the niceties to keep flowing hither and yon. After Bondi praised the reporter for calling out the names of the 49 victims massacred at Pulse nightclub, Cooper abruptly switched gears, pointing out her “hypocrisy” in regard to Florida’s gay community.

Related: Nick Jonas Accused Of ‘Queer-Baiting’ At New York Vigil For Orlando

“I saw you the other day,” he claimed, “saying that anyone who attacks the LGBT community — our LGBT community, you said — will be gone after to the full extend of the law.”

He continued:

“I talked to a lot of gay and lesbian people here yesterday who are not fans of yours and said that they thought you were being a hypocrite, that you for years have fought—you’ve basically gone after gay people, said that in court that gay people simply by fighting for marriage equality were trying to do harm to the people of Florida.”

“Do you really think you’re a champion of the gay community?”

Bondi did her best to sidestep the question, gingerly arguing that her opposition to marriage equality simply boiled down to the oath she took to uphold the law.

Related: Wife Of Orlando Shooter Knew Of His Murderous Plans, Didn’t Warn Police

“I’ve never said I don’t like gay people,” she assured him.

A bit of backstory: As The Daily Beast reports, Bondi filed a brief in May 2014 that claimed “disrupting Florida’s existing marriage laws would impose significant public harm.”

Cooper inquired whether she was at all concerned that such language might “send a message” to people like Omar Mateen; potentially dangerous people who harbor dangerous animosity towards the gay community and already have “bad ideas in mind.”

Bondi tried to smooth over the line of questioning, insisting she never thought gay marriage would cause “harm.”

“Those words never came out of my mouth,” she claimed.

“That’s what you argued in court,” Cooper replied. “The hotline that you’ve been talking about on television, which allows family members and spouses of the dead to get information, which is incredibly important, and I appreciate you talking about on the air… had there been no gay marriage, no same-sex marriage, you do realize that spouses—there would be no spouses, that boyfriends and girlfriends of the dead would not be able to get information and would not be able to visit in the hospital here. Isn’t there a sick irony in that?”

Bondi says she’s gone one step further and assisted unmarried partners in their attempt to get information revoling around the crime.

Cooper emphasizes she’d quite recently said the “very idea” that same-sex couples should have that right:

“Is it hypocritical to portray yourself as a champion of the gay community when—I’m just reflecting what gay people told me—they don’t see you as this?It’s  just that, I will say I have never really seen you talk about gays and lesbians and transgender people in a positive way until now.”

Bondi’s battle against gay marriage cost Florida taxpayers around $500,000.

Watch the highly charged exchange below: 

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