LGBT Organizations Fail to Condemn Nashville School Shooting

In the aftermath of the deadly shooting at Covenant School near Nashville, Tenn., there has been a lot of attention on the fact that the shooter, Audrey Hale, was a biological female who identified as transgender. Sadly, the left-wing media is more concerned with the backlash against the transgender community than empathy and support for the victims, their families, and the local community affected by the shooting.

I can remember how, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the hands of radical Islamic terrorists, there was a significant amount of criticism regarding the lack of condemnation of the attacks by prominent Muslim groups. Remembering this, I found myself wondering whether leading LGBT rights groups have made a point to condemn the violent acts of Audrey Hale, who killed six people, including three children.

So, what have prominent LGBT rights groups said in response to the shooting? Have they condemned it? Have they released any statements at all? I looked at a few to see what they did.

Human Rights Campaign

To their credit, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) did release a statement on Twitter expressing sympathy for the victims of the Covenant School shooting. However, it was a remarkably tone-deaf statement that focused primarily on pro-gun-control rhetoric and defending the transgender community, conspicuously avoiding any direct condemnation of the shooting or the shooter.

“Our hearts break for the victims in Nashville, as we learn more about a tragedy beyond understanding,” the statement began. “Gun violence continues to plague our country. No one should have access to assault weapons. No one should be capable of this amount of carnage and death. Now is the time to strengthen our gun laws nationally and in Tennessee – not weaken them. We still don’t know all of the facts about what happened in Nashville. We do know that every study available shows that transgender and non-binary people are much more likely to be the victims of violence, rather than the perpetrator of it. Regardless of the reason for this shooting, the use of violence is reprehensible and we renew our call for commonsense gun safety legislation.”

The statement was not posted on their website.

GLAAD

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) took a similar approach, taking to Twitter to call the shooting a tragedy and then immediately launching into a rant about the need for more gun control and blaming Republicans for “lying about the trans community” and pushing “anti-LBGTQ legislation.”

-While families and communities are mourning, extremists are lying about the trans community and gun violence to distract from the brutal truth: more children are dying from gun violence than any other cause of death in America. (2/4)

— GLAAD (@glaad) March 28, 2023

If extremist politicians cared about children at all, they’d stop the lying and start banning assault weapons. Enough is enough. (4/4)

— GLAAD (@glaad) March 28, 2023

GLAAD expressed no sympathy for the victims and did not condemn the shooter, and no statement addressing the shooting was posted on their website.

GLSEN

The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has posted no statement about the shooting on its website or on social media.

True Colors United

True Colors United, which was co-founded by Cyndi Lauper, has posted no statement about the shooting on its website or on social media.

The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project did express sadness regarding the shooting, but it failed to condemn the shooter or express sympathy for the victims.

Young people deserve to be safe. At school. At home. Everywhere.

We are saddened by yet another targeted attack on young people – this time at The Covenant School in Nashville. For any LGBTQ young people who are processing this news, our counselors are here 24/7 to support you.

— The Trevor Project (@TrevorProject) March 27, 2023

The Trevor Project bills itself as “the world’s largest suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ youth.” It should have done more to address the shooting than it did, particularly in light of the fact that Audrey Hale was reportedly suffering from mental health issues. An appeal for LGBTQ youth with violent thoughts to reach out to its counselors would have been appropriate.