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Gay rights activist Mirna Haidar leads a vigil at the Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 13 to honor victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Fla. Slideshow: World reacts to Orlando mass shooting > Now 27, Haidar is the lead organizer and advocacy trainer for the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, or MASGD, a national organization that seeks to connect LGBTQ Muslims around the country. Looking back, she says, “that was offensive and did more harm than good.” “They saw I cared about my religion, my faith, and they thought, ‘You can’t be Muslim.’ So they said, ‘Let’s take you to a church.’” “They tried to recruit me to become a member of a church,” Haidar says. Not long after, Haidar, who identifies as both Muslim and queer gender nonconforming, recalls that she was approached by members of the mainstream LGBT community. from her native Lebanon and applied for political asylum. And while transcripts released by the FBI last week show that he did pledge allegiance to the terrorist group ISIS during a 911 call the night of the massacre, investigators have yet to reveal any statements Mateen may have made about gay people or other explicit explanations for targeting the LGBT community.Īt the same time, the absence of a clear motive has prompted unprecedented conversation about the small, relatively unknown population of LGBT Muslims and the complex challenges that accompany this dual identity.įive years ago, Mirna Haidar arrived in the U.S. One man even claimed to be the married gunman’s former lover.Īt this point, however, speculation about Mateen’s sexuality remains just that. history, questions linger about what role the gunman’s Muslim faith - and in particular, its opposition to homosexuality - may have played in his decision to open fire inside a gay nightclub in Orlando.įor at least two weeks after the shooting, there emerged a steady stream of reports from people who said they engaged with the shooter, Omar Mateen, on gay dating apps or talked with him at various gay clubs in Orlando including Pulse, the scene of the massacre. Less than a month after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. A vigil near the historic Stonewall Inn in New York City honored the victims of the Orlando shooting.