Biden Gives Gay Nightclub Victims Huge Honor, Ignores Vegas, Parkland, Sandy Hook Shootings
On Friday, President Joe Biden signed a law establishing the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, as a national memorial. It will honor the memories of the 49 people who were killed during a mass shooting at the club on June 12, 2016.
This was undoubtedly a tragic event, and there is nothing inherently wrong with memorializing the victims. However, evidence suggests this decision from Biden was politically motivated.
Despite calls for national memorials at the sites of four other mass shootings that took place within the last decade, the Biden administration has made no push to establish those memorials. This has led critics to believe the establishment of Pulse nightclub as a national memorial was motivated by LGBT considerations.
Pulse was a gay bar and nightclub, and it was open about its LGBT support. But according to Reason magazine, there is no evidence to suggest the shooting was motivated by hatred of the LGBT community.
The shooter informed police, captives and the media of his motive. He said the attack was a response to the United States bombing Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, not an intentional targeting of an LGBT venue.
None of the survivors recalled the shooter making any anti-LGBT comments, and some even said he may not have known he was in a gay bar, Reason reported.
Nonetheless, many Democrats have pushed the idea that the shooting wabs a hate crime in the lead-up to Pulse’s establishment as a national memorial.
“[Five] years ago we lost 49 beautiful souls at Pulse nightclub,” Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey tweeted earlier this month. “I continue to hold in my heart those who were killed, their loved ones & the survivors of this unspeakable act of hate toward the #LGBTQ+ community.”
5 years ago we lost 49 beautiful souls at Pulse nightclub. I continue to hold in my heart those who were killed, their loved ones & the survivors of this unspeakable act of hate toward the #LGBTQ+ community. We must #EndGunViolence & build a nation based on love for each other.
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) June 12, 2021
There is no evidence to confirm Booker’s claims, yet they have been repeated by many progressives both in Washington and the establishment media.
This raises concerns that the establishment of Pulse as a national memorial was a statement on sexuality rather than the loss of life. These concerns are only heightened by Biden’s failure to establish other infamous mass shooting sites as national memorials.
Sandy Hook
On Dec. 14, 2012, 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Biden addressed this tragedy in December after he had already been elected president, according to the Independent.
“Together with you and millions of our fellow Americans of every background all across our nation, we will fight to end this scourge on our society and enact common-sense reforms that are supported by a majority of Americans and that will save countless lives,” he said in an address to the parents and families of the victims.
While Biden had no problem using the anniversary of this tragedy to push gun reform, he has failed to take any action toward establishing a national memorial for this shooting.
Families of victims and other community members have expressed their desire for a memorial. In April, Newtown residents voted 963-748 to build a permanent memorial for the tragic event, according to The New York Times.
The family of one victim said the project was important to them because it would ensure their son will “still be part of the community.” The Biden administration has still not taken action to establish a national memorial in Newtown.
Sutherland Springs
Nearly four years ago, a gunman stormed a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and killed 26 people before he was stopped by a good guy with a gun.
According to The New York Times, First Baptist Church dedicated its new worship center to the memory of those victims in 2019, but no action has been taken at the federal level to establish a memorial.
In fact, Biden said just two weeks after the tragedy in 2017 that the man who stopped the shooting with his legally licensed AR-15 should not have been able to carry that rifle, The Washington Times reported.
Once again, Biden had no problem using a tragedy to push political priorities. Now that he is in office, he apparently has no intention of honoring the victims as he did with Pulse nightclub.
Las Vegas
During a country concert in October 2017, 60 people were murdered by a gunman shooting from a hotel room. This March, a panel planning a memorial for the event asked the public for ideas.
“Should the memorial be a park, monument, sculpture or something else?” Clark County Commission Chairman Marilyn Kirkpatrick asked publicly, according to The Associated Press. County Commissioner Jim Gibson called on people from “anywhere … in the world” to participate in the brainstorming session.
Despite the national calls for a memorial, the Biden administration has not signaled a willingness to establish a national memorial for the shooting in Las Vegas.
During his presidential campaign in September, Biden issued a hollow statement praising Nevadans for being “resilient,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. He went on to once again condemn gun violence in the United States, and he made no mention of a memorial.
Parkland
On Feb. 14, 2018, 14 students and 3 teachers were killed by a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The shooting led to even more outcry for gun control than previous tragedies, due in part to some surviving students calling for strict gun control measures.
Three years after the event, Biden repeated those calls. His February statement was a direct request to Congress to pass what he called “commonsense gun law reforms.”
“The Parkland students and so many other young people across the country who have experienced gun violence are carrying forward the history of the American journey,” Biden said in a statement.
“It is a history written by young people in each generation who challenged prevailing dogma to demand a simple truth: we can do better. And we will.”
Despite this seemingly inspirational statement, Biden has not expressed any interest in establishing a memorial for the victims of the Parkland shooting.
What Is the Real Motive?
Every single one of these events was a tragedy, and every victim deserves to be honored and remembered. So why is it that the Biden administration has only prioritized one of these tragedies for a national memorial?
In addition, while there is no evidence suggesting the Pulse nightclub shooting was at all related to hatred toward the LGBT community, Democrats like Booker have suggested otherwise.
These two factors in combination with one another suggest there could be an ulterior motive for the establishment of a memorial at the Pulse nightclub site. Namely, progressives may be using a tragedy to make a statement about LGBT values during “Pride Month.”
Each victim of gun crime in America deserves to be remembered, regardless of their sexual orientation. Yet the recognition of victims based on their sexuality rather than their pure humanity should be concerning to every United States citizen.
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