But we can definitely say this: Just as Dylann Roof preyed upon the specific openness and hospitality of the Mother Emanuel Church, Omar Mateen exploited the specific things that make gay bars magic. We may never know how much homophobia drove Mateen to do what he did, or what other springs of madness and extremism he drank from. Or, as Daniel Leon-Davis movingly recollects, a “safe haven,” the place “where I learned to love myself as a gay man,” and the place “where I learned to love my community.” Or as President Obama put it, “a place of solidarity and empowerment.” Last night, this place was violated. But I know that for some queer people there it was their utopia.
I’ve never been to Pulse, the Orlando gay nightclub where Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded another 53.
