Omar Mateen as US citizen, not foreign threat: Homonationalism and LGBTQ online representations of the Pulse nightclub shooting

Abstract

This article focuses on how 377 reports from popular lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) websites represented Omar Mateen, the shooter of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, drawing particular attention to the exclusion of Mateen's native-born status. Based on a grounded theory analysis of the five most-trafficked LGBTQ websites, results demonstrate that the reports generally decontextualized Mateen from his country of birth, the USA, and excluded any emphasis on xenophobia or anti-Latinx prejudice as a potential motivating factor in the shooting. Instead, Mateen was usually associated with “terrorism” and sometimes implicitly positioned as a “foreign threat.” These results, building on Jasbir Puar's concept of homonationalism, have implications for LGBTQ positions on the US political left, as the reports typically constructed themselves as anti-Republican and opposed to Islamophobia, while simultaneously reinforcing homonationalist, and relatively conservative, positions.

Mess up the empire: Deploying and disrupting homonationalism

“…Homonationalism works within the clash of civilizations logic (Puar, 2007). The West fantasizes itself as a modernity that cuddles LGBTQ identities while caricaturing Islamic and Southern nations as uncivilized societies incapable of protecting LGBTQ individuals (Cherry, 2018; Jungar and Peltonen, 2017; Llewellyn, 2017; Meyer, 2020; Swimelar, 2019). As a self-proclaimed “avatar of freedom and modernity” (Butler, 2008: 4), it presents itself as the savior of queers victimized by the homophobia reeking from Southern civilizations (Llewellyn, 2017).…”

Conceptualizing homonationalism: (Re‐)Formulation, application, and debates of expansion

“…This raises fundamental questions, such as where one can even locate homonationalism. Does it in here in the practices of LGBTQ + groups, identities, and organizations (e.g., El‐Tayeb, 2012; Haritaworn, 2010; Meyer, 2020; Puar, 2007)? Beyond the United States and Western Europe (e.g., Schulman, 2011; see also; Moss, 2014)?…”

“…In the United States, Meyer's (2020) study of LGBTQ + websites in the wake of the 2016 shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, also finds evidence of homonationalist influences. Overwhelmingly, these websites downplayed or excluded the fact that the shooter, Omar Mateen, was born in the United States, sometimes even implicitly frame Mateen as a “foreign threat.” Meyer also finds that these reports do not emphasize xenophobia or anti‐Latinx prejudice as potential motivating factors in the mass shooting, instead associating Mateen with “terrorism.” Meyer's work suggests that even LGBTQ + spaces that frame themselves as opposed to Islamophobia can engage in homonationalist discourse (Meyer, 2020; see also; Puar & Mikdashi, 2012). These findings suggest that even when LGBTQ + groups and individuals profess opposition to Islamophobia they may still reinforce homonationalist positions and narratives.…”

“…Meyer also finds that these reports do not emphasize xenophobia or anti-Latinx prejudice as potential motivating factors in the mass shooting, instead associating Mateen with "terrorism." Meyer's work suggests that even LGBTQ + spaces that frame themselves as opposed to Islamophobia can engage in homonationalist discourse (Meyer, 2020; see also; Puar & Mikdashi, 2012). These findings suggest that even when LGBTQ + groups and individuals profess opposition to Islamophobia they may still reinforce homonationalist positions and narratives.…”

“So Much for Protect and Serve”: Queer Male Survivors’ Perceptions of Negative Police Experiences

“…In this sense, this article adds to theorizing on social change that has occurred in the United States regarding the relationship between LGBTQIA people and the police (Dario et al, 2019; Steele et al, 2018; Stewart-Winter, 2016). Historically, sexual minorities have been broadly associated with criminality, which has resulted in a wide range of policing practices, including, perhaps most famously, bar raids (Buist & Lenning, 2016; Meyer, 2019; Stewart-Winter, 2016). Although such raids have not disappeared, as they have been reported against undocumented LGBTQIA people and other queer people of color, their widespread use has undoubtedly decreased since their zenith in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was frequently illegal for homosexuals to congregate with one another (Daum, 2015; Dwyer & Tomsen, 2016; Mogul et al, 2011).…”