About the Shooting at the Hate Group Office

Yesterday a guy went into the office of the Family Research Council in Chinatown and shot the security guard. As I write this, not many details are known. The guard was not killed, he works for the FRC directly and is not a contractor apparently, he subdued the shooter after being hit in the arm. The attacker was carrying some stuff from Chick Fil-A, we don't know what he was going to do with it.

The shooter, Floyd Corkins II, was a volunteer at the DC Center for the LGBT Community, and was described by colleagues as "gentle, kind, and unassuming."

All the gay advocacy groups immediately issued statements decrying violence. But you know how this is going to be used.

When somebody blows up an abortion clinic, news reports rarely use the word "terrorist," and always mention that the building was an abortion clinic. It is usually mentioned in the headline. "Somebody" blew the place up because it was an abortion clinic, the target of the attack bears the blame. But when the target is a hate group, news reports don't even tell the public what kind of organization it is, go figure. They call it a "policy center," or "conservative lobbying group." Here's how this morning's Post article started:

An armed intruder, spouting opposition to social conservatism, walked into the Washington headquarters of the Family Research Council on Wednesday and shot a security guard before the wounded guard and others wrestled him to the floor and subdued him until police arrived, authorities said. Family Research Council guard shot by gunman in D.C.

Seriously -- "spouting opposition to social conservatism?" Somehow I think that might be a high-level summary that drains the event of its content. It appears to me that we probably have a gay man coming in to kill some people who have devoted their lives to the encouragement of prejudice and discrimination against him and people like himself; I am guessing he did not mention "social conservatism."

You could read this entire Post article without discovering that the Family Research Council is designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group.

There are a few media outlets that have mentioned the fact, but they do it in an amazing backward way. For instance, CBN, a Christianist site, blamed the shooting on the SPLC for labeling the FRC a hate group. It's just another instance of liberals stirring up trouble. Nobody wants to come out and say out loud what everybody knows, which is that the FRC actually does promote hatred.

We don't know all the facts here, and obviously there is going to be a lot of talk, it was a bad thing for this guy to do and he will go to prison for it. You might get tired of the insults, the denigration, the lack of respect, the arrogance, but you don't react by shooting people. There is no way anything good could have come of this kind of behavior. It does not advance the cause in any way that I can foresee, and only offers a soapbox to those who want to brand all gay and lesbian people as unhinged and dangerous in one way or another. Groups like the FRC are losing traction in this country, and it would be enough just to let them shrink to nothing on their own. It's funny to say it, but I just don't think violence is a good way to win a debate. We are certainly a violent country, both as individuals and in the international sphere, but I don't think violence changes people's minds.

I wonder how the press would play it if a black person opened fire on a Klan rally. That's all, I just wonder.

Luckily no one was seriously hurt in this incident. The security guard is a hero, he deserves that label, he did his job and stopped a killer. The Family Research Council is a hate group, they have earned that label as well. But don't look for the media to mention that fact. The story will be "Crazed queer attacks Christian organization that supports families and marriage."

I don't know how it will play out, but I am pretty sure you will not see gay people on the talk shows, explaining how frustrating it is to have groups like the Family Research Council lying about you and criticizing the most intimate personal part of yourself, the part of you that loves and cares about others, as if you are dirty and sinful. None of that justifies violence, we are not talking about that, but it is certainly a factor in understanding this crime. The FRC has attacked gays in the most evil ways for years, relentlessly, and somebody snapped. But you won't hear it that way on TV.