Audrey Hale Manifesto Release Raises Major Concerns From LGBTQ+ Groups

[WarGamer]

IMHO... not releasing the manifesto will only fuel speculation and far out RW conspiracy theories.



https://www.newsweek.com/audrey-hale-manifesto-release-raises-major-concerns-among-lgbtq-groups-1790938

Calls for police to release the "manifesto" that authorities say was written ahead of Monday's Nashville school shooting has prompted concern among LGBTQ+ groups, who caution against the publication of such a document.

While many details remain to be unveiled about the massacre at The Covenant School this week, police have identified the shooter as 28-year-old Audrey Hale. On Monday, Hale, armed with two assault-style weapons—a rifle and a pistol—as well as a handgun, fatally shot three children and three staff members at the school before being killed by police.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Very ambivalent here I have to say ...

On the one hand ... facts are facts. The public deserves to know the mass murderer's state of mind.

OTOH ... publishing the 'manifestos' of mass murderers ... is exactly what they want.

These must be balanced.

Note that my opinion doesn't hinge on the LGTBQ+ angle ... because honestly ... it shouldn't. Something like this is bigger IMHO.

[WarGamer]

2. Here's the big question...

If it was a white dude that shot up a black church... and he left a manifesto, how'd you feel about the FBI slow walking it's release?

The #1 thing I expect in my own life is consistency. Inconsistency comes across as lying in my book... like someone is disrespecting me because they think I can't handle or process something.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

9. Absolutely

But that’s irrelevant to whether or not the manifesto should be released.


Of course it should…can’t believe this is even being questioned .

[NullTuples]

13. It's not irrelevant at all.

A "manifesto" from a white guy who is angry because - although he still holds intersectional privilege over them - other groups are gaining equality may induce people like him to follow his lead.

But a "manifesto" from someone holds less social privilege, who has been attacked or abused is a very different story. The problem there is one of optics and perhaps a call for accountability for the people who emotionally or socially abused the shooter until they snapped. That's not an excuse; killing innocents is still evil. But the situation becomes more complicated and requires more discussion.

I don't know if this is the situation. But if it is and law enforcement is holding the "manifesto" for that reason, doing so is wrong.

[Demsrule86]

23. Sorry, you don't get to shoot little kids for any reason.

[NullTuples]

25. I've said repeatedly it was wrong and evil. Please stand down.

You are putting words in my mouth when I've repeatedly & explicitly said the opposite. Please stop.

Both can be true; someone did a bad, evil thing that is inexcusable *and* they were also the victim of stochastic terrorism that aims to destabilize emotionally vulnerable people.

[ShazzieB]

28. Agree 100%.

Both can be true; someone did a bad, evil thing that is inexcusable *and* they were also the victim of stochastic terrorism that aims to destabilize emotionally vulnerable people.

I absolutely agree. When I look at this shooter, I dont see an "evil" person. I see a very miserable person who was a member of an oppressed group and the victim of obvious parental abuse (and who knows what else). Hale made some terrible, horrific choices, but that doesn't negate or erase his personal suffering.

Note: I am using masculine pronouns, because we have been told that Hale was trying to transition and being blocked by his parents. Using female pronouns and the name Audrey feels wrong to me.

P.S. Fuck Hale's parents. They sound like monsters to me.

[boston bean]

37. I see a child killer. Period end of story.

[BlackSkimmer]

33. Please explain to me how this shooter was a victim of "stochastic terrorism"?

Did the shooter try and do what the right wants in this case? I'm thinking not.

So who is it that influenced this child-killer?

[Hugh_Lebowski]

7. Ohhh, yeah, good one! I enjoy these sorts of conundrums ...

But I'm going to say ... I see both sides just as much in that case as I do in this one (as I spelled out in my earlier post).

[Dorian Gray]

14. I think manifestos

are dangerous and can inspire like minded people to perpetrate a similar crime. So in that way, I understand why authorities are reluctant to release all of them.



(Personally, I think that vulnerable people who feel alienated are prone to indoctrination and radicalization. Hale may have been in that boat, as are the myriad murderers who are cis white men. Incel online culture is a known thing. I wouldn't be surprised if there were siloed and radicalized areas on the web that would target a vulnerable person like Hale.)

[NullTuples]

3. None of those "LGBTQ+ groups" are trans. One is Republican.

From the source article:

“It should not be published. The focus should be on how this was able to happen, there should not be such easy access to deadly weaponry.”
- Jordan Budd, exec director, Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere

"[the release could trigger] serious consequences. While it would give insight into the motivations that could help shed light into root causes, additional glorification of the shooter could inspire others”
- Charles Moran, nat'l pres of Log Cabin Republicans

"[releasing it could] increase the risk of contagion"
- Laura McGinnis, PFLAG spokesperson (PFLAG = "Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays&quot

They all seem worried that some us may have been terrorized to a breaking point, which is a valid concern. But are we expected to pretend the harms that may have driven the shooter to irrationality don't exist? As with any oppressed & attacked group, we have members who are emotionally vulnerable. Ignoring or worse, hiding that some trans people may be reacting to conservatives trying their best to eliminate us is not going to make the problem go away.

If this is the case, the most vulnerable trans people being pushed to a breaking point is another effect or form of Republican stochastic terrorism.

There is also of course the possibility that abuse occurred at that school. Again, that should not be covered up, nor should what it did be hidden.

[WarGamer]

4. What do YOU think?

Release it or sit on it?

[regnaD kciN]

5. PFLAG explicitly support "LGBTQ+ people"...

It’s right there as the first item on their website.

[NullTuples]

11. Most of the time they are wonderful allies. However...

...as allies they are speaking from their own point of view, which is often one of higher social privilege than the family members they support. In other words, allies don't want to see their loved one hurt. So sometimes try to be overly "protective" because they just want the problem to go away. And sometimes that can make the problems worse.

[Celerity]

16. COLAGE and PFLAG are both trans inclusionary. As for Log Cabin Republicans, they can sod right off

I don't give a toss what they have to say about anything, despite my being lesbian, just like I do not give a damn what the Nation of Islam has to say about anything, despite my being black.


https://colage.org/







https://pflag.org/

Transgender Reading List for Adults

Transilient, PFLAG National Partner on New Film Series, Climbing Every Mountain

White House Welcomes Trans Youth from PFLAG

Transgender Day of Visibility

Ahead of Transgender Day of Remembrance, PFLAG National Approves Official Policy Statement on Anti-Transgender Violence and Discrimination

PFLAG Launches #TransKids #SoFierce

PFLAG v. Abbott Lawsuit Filed to Stop Texas from Persecuting Parents with Transgender Kids

etc etc

[BlackSkimmer]

34. The shooter attended that school for TWO years almost 20 years ago. That is all.

Then the shooter goes and kills three children who certainly had nothing to do with it, an African American man who certainly had nothing to do with it, and two others who likely had nothing to do with it.

As the kids like to say" Make THAT make SENSE.

[GuppyGal]

8. Release a synopsis or short summary.....we don't need to hear these peoples exact words and have

them left behind for others to glorify and be influenced by.

[ForgedCrank]

10. I want

to read the entire thing to get an understanding of the truth, right down to the last detail available.
Hiding it could do damage where it isn't even applicable. Truth and transparency should always be demanded.

[Dorian Gray]

15. I will say

people who write manifestos are often mentally ill and have fractured thinking. "The Truth" is shaded by their thinking.

I think that hoping we will find a logical reason for Hale's actions in this manifesto is misguided. There is no logic to killing 6 people: a principal, a substitute, a custodian, and three 9 year old children.

Even if it WAS established that the school had perpetuated criminal actions against Hale as a child (which is what it seems some people are leaning toward having happened), the targeted people (outside of the principal -- and who knows if she was even at the school at time) would make zero logical sense.

[NullTuples]

12. I flat out don't trust Tennessee law enforcement to make an unbiased summary or synopsis

[BlackSkimmer]

35. Well, hopefully they will release it in full in that case. nt

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

17. I agree with your view, full disclosure, get it all out there, every word

[betsuni]

18. Valarie Solanas, SCUM Manifesto, shot Andy Warhol.

Nutty.

[dclarston13]

19. What is to be gained from the release

Manifestos in general are not good reading, they are in many cases ramblings of a demented mind. I doubt any future shootings will be prevented from the release of the manifesto. More likely people will think it represents the thoughts of the LBGTQ community, which would be an incorrect and dangerous assumption.

[Sympthsical]

20. I have a wild speculation

Wild in that it's pretty obvious. The fear is that some of the rhetoric in it might match up exceedingly well with some of the more violent and radical rhetoric that floats around places like Twitter unremarked upon.

And then there will be some hard questions about what gets overlooked in the name of being sensitive to oppression.

People pretend it's not there and they don't see it - and will get real mad and make excuses if you even bring it up - but you can play a rousing game of "Incel or Activist?" real, real easily on social media.

I think that might be in there. And no one wants to acknowledge that maybe it shouldn't have been tolerated/ignored/gaslit about for as long as it has been.

If that stuff is in there, as I suspect it is, and the Right gets their hands on it, they're going to spend weeks doing a 1:1 search across Twitter for all kinds of matching sentiments. And the problem will be, they'll have tons of material.

So maybe it shouldn't be released. Or maybe this is a conversation we actually need to have. We have no problem discussing problematic radicalism on social media on the Right. Maybe we need to talk about this.

But we probably won't.

[BlackSkimmer]

36. Nailed it.

As usual.

[dsc]

21. To the extent that his manifesto targets specific non public figures

it should be redacted but the rest of it should be released. We can't live in darkness. I doubt the manifesto will inspire other shooters. To the extent that it channels the legitimate problems facing trans people, it will hardly be a revelation to them. I don't see any, let alone large numbers of, them saying let me do what he did.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

22. I'd like to know what kind of prescription drugs Hale was taking

for his emotional disorder, or any other conditions he has been diagnosed with.

[marshall]

24. Better to wait until after April 1

The manifesto shouldn’t be tied with the protest in DC supporting trans rights.

[ShazzieB]

29. Good point.

I feel like I want it to be released, but I'm not sure if I trust my own motives for wanting it, if that makes any sense.

I find myself longing to know what was in his heart and mind, but at the same time, I know that's based on my own selfish curiosity,

I have no idea what would be best for the trans community or the wider LGBTQ+ community, and I know I'm not qualified to judge.

The idea of keeping the whole thing under wraps feels weird to me, but I don't know if I even have the right to have a vote.

[Deep State Witch]

26. My Theory Is

That Audrey was abused and/or molested while she was at the school. Especially if she showed signs of being anything except a straight, cis woman. Once she was out of school, she transitioned to Aiden, but was still living with his a**hole parents who didn't accept Audrey as Aiden.

Unfortunately, Aiden picked up one masculine trait that's all too common these days - believing that all of your problems can be solved with guns.

[ShazzieB]

30. I suspect the sane.

Considering the kind if school that was, I'd be surprised if there wasn't emotional abuse, if nothing else.

As much as I deplore what he did, I can't help feeling terrible for him at the same time.

[BlackSkimmer]

38. I was horribly bullied in elementary school.

The shooter attended this school for two years.

I was bullied from first grade through sixth. A very small child, gay (though unknown at the time), with an English accent, dressed as an English schoolgirl, and with asthma as well. I can remember specific instances of horrendous verbal and emotional abuse if I try.

Never shot anyone, never wanted to shoot anyone. At the age of 28, I wasn't even thinking about it.

No one this shooter killed had anything to do with the murders as far as we know. The victim blaming here (not necessarily you) on DU has really been shocking.

This shooter had the money to buy SEVEN guns, but still chose to live at home with mommy and daddy. Huh, not feeling sorry for a child-killer. Nope.

[Stinky The Clown]

27. Audrey? or Aiden.

[ShazzieB]

31. Yeah, I hate the way he keeps getting deadnamed in all the news stories. 😢

[BlackSkimmer]

39. Yes, I like knowing there has still not been a recent female school shooter as first thought.

So there's that.

[The Grand Illuminist]

32. You are right.

But if it is what the opposition believes, there will be tragedy. This was done by just one person, and the one person does not reflect the movement as a whole.

[The Mouth]

40. Everything like this should be released

The *only* things that should be unavailable to the public should be classified information, and only .0001% of that and only for 5 years.

Everybody should know everything.