Tim Hopkins of the Equality Network on the aftermath of the Orlando killings
We have all in Scotland been affected by the news from Orlando.
For LGBTI people the shock, sadness, anxiety and anger have been particularly personal. Shock that the kind of place – a gay bar – that many of us consider a safe and special haven should be turned into a place of mass murder.
Sadness and much more for those whose lives have been ended or devastated, and, more personally, that yet again our community is a target for hate.
Anxiety because, as LGBTI people, we grew up constantly fearing the reaction of others to our true identity, and that fear continues.
It is the ideology of hate, of disrespect for the common humanity of those who are different, that needs addressed
Tim Hopkins
Thousands of people in Scotland are now married to a same-sex partner, but visibly same-sex couples holding hands are a rare sight. The fear of attack, verbal or worse, continues to affect every day of our lives.
Anger can sometimes end up wrongly targeted. I think, though, that some responses to Orlando deserve our anger.
Donald Trump, a man who wants to reverse the US Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality, and opposes trans equality and LGBTI non-discrimination law, is using this attack, and a claimed concern for lesbian and gay people, in justification of grossly racist and Islamophobic rhetoric and policy. That makes me very angry.
Meanwhile, here, openly gay writer Owen Jones cut short a Sky TV interview in anger on Sunday night, refusing to accept being told repeatedly by presenter Mark Longhurst that it was wrong to highlight that this was an anti-LGBT attack.
Owen was right of course – this was an attack on a gay venue, chosen because it was a gay venue. Whatever complexities are still to be uncovered about the killer’s motives, it’s clear that this was a deliberate homophobic hate crime.
Of course, inappropriate responses have been far outweighed by the support, care and concern shown by so many. Vigils in Glasgow, Dumfries, Aberdeen, Dundee, Thurso, Edinburgh and Stirling, organised spontaneously by diverse groups of LGBTI people, are being attended by hundreds. And civic institutions across the country have shown their concern and support with rainbow flags and other visible gestures.
We also need to look to more substantive responses. The BBC’s Call Kaye programme on Tuesday asked “Should religion to do more to combat homophobia?” My answer is that we all need to do more to combat homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.
The Orlando killer said he acted in the name of “Islamic State”. The man who, in 1999, murdered and maimed people with a nail bomb in the London gay bar Admiral Duncan, did so in the name of neo-Nazism.
It is the ideology of hate, of disrespect for the common humanity of those who are different, that needs addressed.
We should all, people of religious faith or otherwise, speak up to say that the fact that others live their lives differently than we do in no way diminishes those others’ worth, humanity, and right to full equality, and in no way justifies discrimination, prejudice or abuse of any kind.
Tim Hopkins is director of the Equality Network.
