The Orlando Pulse Massacre: A Transnational Japanese Queer Response

I first learned about the Orlando Pulse massacre late at night on June 12, Sunday (Japan Standard Time) while I was in Fukuoka, Japan, for the International Communication Association conference. My initial reaction was, “What the f*** has just happened?” I immediately thought I could have been in such a gay club space. Then I was overwhelmed. Next morning, I went online to try and better understand what had happened at Pulse. I was shocked how twenty-nine-year–old U.S. citizen of Afghan descent Omar Mateen walked into Pulse on Latin Night and began shooting. I could not imagine how horrific it must have been for the hostages to be inside of such a deadly, violent situation for three hours. Going through some of the bloody images online made me feel sad and depressed. At the same, I became angry when I saw homophobic reactions to the massacre. I could not believe that some conservative politicians and religious leaders said that GLBTQ people deserve such violence. These hateful reactions continue to signify the reality for GLBTQ people despite their increased visibility in the United States. They are still subjected to discrimination, prejudice, and/or violence every day. Thus, in this article I, as a transnational Japanese queer subject, offer my perspective on what we could learn from this horrific event.

I argue that the Orlando Pulse massacre mirrors the underlying racial tensions among GLBTQ people. For example, Roderick A. Ferguson writes that “sociological arguments about the socially constructed nature of (homo)sexuality index the contemporary entrance of white gays and lesbians into the rights of privileges of American citizenship.”¹ In consequence, the youthful, cis-gendered, able-bodied, and masculine constructions of whiteness symbolize the social, affective, and aesthetic ideals for male same-sex sexual intimate relations.² As I have argued elsewhere, this white masculine ideal ironically serves as a homonormative point of departure for framing male same-sex, color-to-color relations. Such racialized relationships also occur within the globally circulated Western queer formations that are geared toward whiteness. From this perspective, I reconsider a rumor about Mateen having previously used gay dating apps and visited gay clubs.

Although FBI investigators stated that there was no evidence that Mateen had gay lovers,³ I wonder if the rumor that Mateen had gay lovers reveals the reality of homoerotic interracialism (dis)articulated among male same-sex sexual lovers: they are never separated from the macro-structural system. What is socially, economically, and politically happening affects who they are, what they do, and how they make sense of what they do. Due to the War on Terror, it cannot be denied that brown bodies that are associated with particular religions could be unfavorably situated in Western queer formations that privilege white/Western/American gays and lesbians. In this ideological landscape, I wonder what Mateen might have experienced if he had ever participated in gay dating apps and clubs. How might his body have been constituted as he interacted with men (of color) in these venues? Some may find Mateen’s decision to commit this act on Latin Night at the Pulse interesting. However, some scholars of critical race studies already argue that people of color are always pitted against each other.⁴ Thus, I find the rumor about Mateen having gay lovers important. It hints that we need to acknowledge “differences” within GLBTQ communities. We need to carefully unpack “differences” to learn how to work with them, and, we hope, avoid potential violence.

In addition, I argue that the Orlando Pulse massacre illustrates the necessity of gun control. Coming from Japan, I am still shocked by how easily most civilians can buy and own guns in the United States. As I witness homophobic reactions to the Orlando Pulse massacre, I am afraid if guns could continue to be used for endangering lives of GLBTQ people. Gay bars and clubs have historically played a major role in creating a “safe” space for GLBTQ people to express their non-heteronormative sexualities and genders. This “safe” space has simultaneously served as a vehicle for promoting the...