Attack on the gay world
The Orlando shooter apparently deliberately stormed a gay nightclub with the express intention of killing those partying there. Homophobia is a global phenomenon, commentators point out, and call for solidarity with the gay community.
Bloody attacks reveal masculinity crisis
There is a close connection between the barrage of mass shootings in the US and the sense of unease felt by many men in modern society, The Independent writes:
“For thousands of years, faith has been used to keep straight men at the top of the ladder, but religion itself is not the actual problem. It is masking the fact that masculinity is failing to adapt to the changing world where women are breadwinners and gay couples can start families. Since Sandy Hook, there have been an astonishing 998 mass shootings in America. Two of the perpetrators were Muslim, but all were men. Surely this suggests that this is a wider problem with masculinity. Until we reassess what it means to be a 'real man' then men will continue to beat their wives and murder LBGT people to ease their own self-loathing.”
Not just Islam has a problem with homophobia
Much of the supposedly liberal West continues to take a critical view of equal rights for same-sex couples, The Daily Telegraph comments:
“Polls suggest that around a third of Americans still believe that homosexuality should be discouraged. Homosexual acts have only been legal in the West since the 1960s. Gay marriage has only been on the agenda for a decade and is still bitterly resented by social conservatives. Because TV is awash with the liberal values of its producers, it can appear as if our entire hemisphere has embraced sexual liberty. ...The conservatives are right: Islam does have a problem with homosexuality. Yet so do many conservatives.”
World must say no to homophobia
Franko Dota, representative of the LGTB organisation Zagreb Pride, calls for international solidarity in the daily newspaper Jutarnji List:
“'Kill the faggots!'. No, the terrorist who stormed the gay nightclub in Florida on Saturday night was not the first person to have this thought. The same words were belted out at Croatia's first gay demo in the thunderous chants of Croatian extremists on the streets of Zagreb. A year before the first attempt at staging an LGBT in Belgrade had come to a bloody end. Gays were hit, beaten, kicked and killed, and not just at demonstrations or in gay clubs. … The states of this world must understand that the fight against homophobia, religious fanaticism and discrimination must be taken up in parliaments, schools and the media. And all those who were Charlie in January 2015 should now change their profile to 'I am gay' at least for a few days.”
Lithuanians reveal their cruel side
Columnist Andrius Tapinus is shocked by the reactions in Lithuania to the Orlando massacre, commenting in the online portal Delfi:
“One can hardly believe that fellow Lithuanians who have families and jobs, who go to the park with their children and play football on the weekend, would come home from the park on Sunday, sit down at their computer and spread such horrors online. 'Greetings to the hero', 'Don't think you're safe, you faggots', 'I want to take part in the [Baltic Pride] parade with a machine gun'. … You would think it was only anonymous cowards, brave only from behind their monitors, who do this, but almost the same thing has happened in my Facebook timeline. … Therefore today I say: Baltic Pride, I support you. That is my only choice, because otherwise I would be on the side of darkness, hate and terror.”