Orlando Tragedy - "Why Does It Bother You So Much?"

This was a terrorist attack against the United States of America. Americans. That's what bothers me about this event. The particular target was an LGTB club. If it were a Cuban themed club or an African American Church or a Catholic church or a Chinese restaurant, the attack would have been the same: against Americans. There is danger here in one group taking possession of it as their own, and I think that's what is happening.

Those not in the LGBT community died as well. They certainly sympathized with that community, but that wasn't everyone's identity. What truly ties everyone together that died, their moms and dads, their families, the community is that they, we, are all Americans.

These people don't need a reason to kill us. Whatever particular circumstance in which we die is coincidental. Yes, he specifically chose that club because of its culture. Just like Fort Hood, and just like San Bernadino and New York and on and on and on. What counts is our American-ness.

Divvying up and laying claim to murderous assaults like this by different groups is dismissive of the true threat that exists and in a way invalidates the loss of those who just happened to be killed along with the rest that didn't belong to the "targeted group". And that's not right.

This shouldn't be a LGBT thing. Its an American thing.

Offlabel - this isn't an attack only on Americans. The killer targeted these folks not because they're Americans but because they are gay (LGBT). The Boston Marathon attack was an attack on Americans because the population targeted was random. To not recognize that there was a hateful intent toward LGBT is to ignore the fact that LGBT has been living with this kind of violence for decades. Aside from physical violence, psychological violence committed by Americans is alive and well. We're constantly being told that we're less than, and in many places in the US LGBT Americans still cannot express love in public without being called names or face threats of physical violence.

Nobody is trying to own this tragedy or divide the country. To you, this tragedy is an attack on Americans; to us (LGBT), it is more than that. It is an attack on our community that sadly we know all too well.

It bothers me because mass shootings have become almost routine. I shouldn't have to worry about being shot at a club, the movies, the playground, work, watching a marathon, or anywhere else.

What bothers me is people solely blaming an object and not the person using the object.

All responses, except VerticalHorizion, make valid points. I have very close relatives who are gay. However...I don't know, I live on the west coast....it just didn't resonate with me as much?

On the other hand, my husband used to work at the San Bernardino Regional Center. We felt very affected when we heard the news of that shooting. He had left over 30 years ago, and the office had moved to that new location after he had left. But still, the physical/emotional closeness of it made that shooting affect me more than the Pulse shooting.

It was another horrible American tragedy. I can't understand why any civilian needs a semi automatic rifle that fires 24 shots in 9 seconds?????????????????????

This was a terrorist attack against the United States of America. Americans. That's what bothers me about this event. The particular target was an LGTB club. If it were a Cuban themed club or an African American Church or a Catholic church or a Chinese restaurant, the attack would have been the same: against Americans. There is danger here in one group taking possession of it as their own, and I think that's what is happening.

Those not in the LGBT community died as well. They certainly sympathized with that community, but that wasn't everyone's identity. What truly ties everyone together that died, their moms and dads, their families, the community is that they, we, are all Americans.

These people don't need a reason to kill us. Whatever particular circumstance in which we die is coincidental. Yes, he specifically chose that club because of its culture. Just like Fort Hood, and just like San Bernadino and New York and on and on and on. What counts is our American-ness.

Divvying up and laying claim to murderous assaults like this by different groups is dismissive of the true threat that exists and in a way invalidates the loss of those who just happened to be killed along with the rest that didn't belong to the "targeted group". And that's not right.

This shouldn't be a LGBT thing. Its an American thing.

But. It WAS a LGBT thing. He chose that club based on the sexual orientation of the people inside it. There are also reports of him visiting an area of Disney where they were having Gay Days. This was a targeted attack on the LGBT community and to say otherwise simplifies a very complex tragedy.

Regarding the T word - I disagree with calling every crime committed by a non-Christian "terrorism." I think it should apply to all mass hate crimes (and most mass shootings in the U.S. are committed by white dudes) or none. "Muslim" should not be the criterion. I believe that people who hate will find any excuse to justify that hate. Whether he was closeted or not, his claims of loyalty to ISIL, in my opinion, were inconsequential. His murder spree wasn't financed or supported by his religion.

I haven't quite yet figured out how I feel about it. Mostly I feel sickened and angry because people were slaughtered because of who they are. I've gained a new level of social awareness in the past two years, so while the scale of this attack is record-breaking, it just follows the pattern of senseless murders that's been happening already. Nine churchgoers were slaughtered and one wounded a year ago in Charleston because of their race. Two years ago a guy at UC Santa Barbara murdered six people and injured 14 because women rejected him. It happens over and over and the shooters usually invent a reason to hate some particular group of people (often women or minorities) the most.

Regarding community, I've never really felt a part of it. If I'm not dating another woman, I pass, and my current status is "Single, not looking." Most people assume others are straight by default. I'm a very private person anyway, so while I'm comfortably out in some social circles, in others it doesn't come up and I wouldn't talk about it if it did. I don't feel like proving that I deserve to be part of the community. I also don't feel like being grilled by ignorant people (community or no) about the legitimacy of my preferences. I have a good friend who is gay who quit dating women who didn't identify as lesbian because she said there was always some other sort of problem (not REALLY bi, not wanting monogomy, not knowing what they wanted...). I'm not sure it really registered with her that she was dissing bi chicks to a bi chick.

So I identify with the victims as people, but not MY people, if that makes sense.

People are not more or less horrified because of the victim's sexual orientation. That's ludicrous. It's horrifying on MANY levels.

When a black church was gunned down, the African American community in Charleston was shattered, rightfully so. When children were slaughtered in their classroom, parents in this country wept not because the children were Americans, but because they, too, have/had children. When a community, ANY community, is specifically targeted it affects the other members of that community and their families even more.

And PLEASE do not tell people how or what to grieve. This has rocked the LGBT community like nothing ever has and simply because you don't understand why does not give you permission to belittle it.

People are not more or less horrified because of the victim's sexual orientation. That's ludicrous. It's horrifying on MANY levels.

When a black church was gunned down, the African American community in Charleston was shattered, rightfully so. When children were slaughtered in their classroom, parents in this country wept not because the children were Americans, but because they, too, have/had children. When a community, ANY community, is specifically targeted it affects the other members of that community and their families even more.

And PLEASE do not tell people how or what to grieve. This has rocked the LGBT community like nothing ever has and simply because you don't understand why does not give you permission to belittle it.

I'm sorry, who is belittling anything? It was a horrible, disgraceful tragedy. I grieve for the loss of these people!!! They were people, who had an entire identity beyond who they chose to sleep with. Who wants to be remembered for who they slept with? Not me.

I know I want to be remembered for what I contributed. I think most people want to be remembered for the same.

People are not more or less horrified because of the victim's sexual orientation. That's ludicrous. It's horrifying on MANY levels.

When a black church was gunned down, the African American community in Charleston was shattered, rightfully so. When children were slaughtered in their classroom, parents in this country wept not because the children were Americans, but because they, too, have/had children. When a community, ANY community, is specifically targeted it affects the other members of that community and their families even more.

And PLEASE do not tell people how or what to grieve. This has rocked the LGBT community like nothing ever has and simply because you don't understand why does not give you permission to belittle it.

Equal=/=same (thank the goddess)

No one gets to dictate how or why I grieve. No one gets to demand that I ignore the fact that this country has a long, shameful history of violence against my people precisely because of who we are and that this crime springs, in part, directly out of that tradition. No one gets to demand that I justify why it matters to me in the way that it does. I know it's a difficult reality for straights to face, but there it is.

Some posters here are horrified at yet another mass shooting committed by a nut with way too easy access to a gun.

Some are horrified at how easily jihadist terrorism can be committed so close to home and cause such searing loss, all in the name of hatred for our country and religious fanaticism.

Some people I've talked to are horrified at just how insane life in this country has become.

All rational responses to an irrational act.

So ... how come they aren't required to justify their reactions?

Meanwhile, I'll say it again: arguing about "ownership" and trying to invalidate the viewpoints that aren't exactly the same as mine is stupid, ignorant and almost as destructive as the original crime.