Plan B Forum

Gov. Rick Scott Honored Pulse But Never Mentioned LGBT People

Florida Gov. Rick Scott invoked the Pulse massacre in his annual State of the State address Tuesday but never used the terms “LGBT,” “LGBTQ” or “Latinx” to describe victims of the mass shooting, the deadliest in modern U.S. history. Equality Florida quickly called out the oversight.

“While we are glad the governor spotlighted the Pulse tragedy, we are deeply disappointed that when talking about the worst anti-LGBTQ attack in our nation’s history, our governor failed to acknowledge the LGBTQ community in any way,” said Equality Florida public policy director Hannah Willard in a statement. “Governor Scott spoke about the horror our state experienced in the wake of the attack, the heroism of Orlando’s first responders, and the pain of families who lost loved ones. What we didn't hear was any mention of the LGBTQ community targeted in this murderous rampage, which occurred on Latin night.”

Scott recalled the days in the aftermath of the Pulse shooting, which he said would “always be with me.” But he focused concern on the threat of terrorism, labeling shooter Omar Mateen, who was killed by law enforcement at the scene, a “terrorist inspired by ISIS.” He also proposed budgeting $5.8 billion for counterterrorism efforts, citing the attack. Scott never referenced the attack as a hate crime or an assault on the LGBT or Latinx community.

rubato wrote:"straightsplain" suggests that this idiocy is a characteristic of straight people. Perhaps you could assemble a different neologism?

Latinx

1. Gender non-conforming people of Latin American descent.

2. LGBT/Queer people that identify with their adopted gender as opposed to their biological sex, and with Latin culture.

3. The community of trans and gender-neutral people in the Americas that identify with their latino* heritage.

Scooter wrote:

rubato wrote:"straightsplain" suggests that this idiocy is a characteristic of straight people. Perhaps you could assemble a different neologism?

Straightsplaining is a misguided/distorted attempt by a straight person to describe gay experience, in the same way that mansplaining is a misguided/distorted attempt by a man to describe women's experience. Neither term suggests that it is characteristic of the entire group.

Scooter wrote:You could have looked it up for yourself if you didn't have such a compulsive need to put down anything having to do with LGBT people at every opportunity.

rubato wrote:So "fagsplaining" and "dykesplaining" are inoffensive as well? As long as I claim it does not apply to the entire group.