FBI Told Orlando Shooter's Wife Not to Tell US Media He Was Gay

[MADem]

138. You need to understand that the world of immigrants often does not intersect with larger society.

Mr. or Mrs. Abbas, newly arrived from Iraq or Afghanistan or where-ever, never mind the Siddiquie family, doesn't have "grinder" on their phone. They might not even read more than a minimum amount of English. If you ask them what "grinder" is, the missus will probably say it is a kitchen machine to pulverize spices.

When they watch television, they don't watch US programs. They get the dish and the special package, and watch programming that reflects their own culture and language. They are not stupid people--they know about "the gay" but they also "know" (these quotes are here for a reason, FWIW) that "the gay" are not allowed into Paradise, and ergo, no one who is Muslim is gay. Remember how everyone roared with laughter when that idiot Ahmadi Nejad, the former Prez of Iran, stood up with a straight face and told the UN there were no gay people in Iran? He truly believed it. His mind is constructed to believe that "gayness" is a temptation of the devil, or a result of western influence, or something that is a "weakness," or a "defect" or an illness--but it can be cured. Of course, gay people know full well that this is not the case.

See, this nightclub murderer didn't give a shit what the infidels (and yes, that is the correct term) thought, or knew--because they would never intersect with his religious life or his traditional family. He was NEVER going to bring any one of them home. He was on the DL and he made that clear, too, from what those who knew him in his "club" persona said.

What he said to his (obedient and traditional--and no, hijab is not mandated to be traditional or obedient) wife is what he said to his wife. She may not have liked his activities, but she wasn't in the catbird seat. He sold the home she lived in for a pittance a few months ago. He handled the money. He was "The Man" and what he says, goes. The oppression in traditional house holds -- and it sounds like he was raised in one of those -- is stultifying for women--they have no authority. They are made to believe that everything is "given" to them. They are not valued for their work. They have less status than a farm animal in traditional societies. It's criminal, really.

It's not always VISIBLE to the outside world, though. Those Muslim women neighbors who don't wave or say hello aren't "unfriendly" -- they're afraid. If they're seen talking to a strange man they'll be accused of being harlots. There will be consequences if they step wrong in some families. Not all--but some.

His wife, no matter how much she knew or didn't know, didn't run round the masjid or to their friends and neighbors and broadcast his musings, feelings or activities--hell, she probably rarely or never went to the mosque (it's a rather segregated activity even when women do attend).

And you can be damn-sure that HE didn't broadcast his conflicted feelings to his traditional community. As far as THEY are concerned--even if his parents and wife "knew" because they caught him with porn or whatever-- he was so far in the closet that he was huddled behind the winter coats, those boxes of old letters and photo albums, and the ice skates.

He didn't acknowledge the truth of his sexuality as part of his persona. He thought if he could get closer to God, it would go away.

Now, if you take that toxic Big Lie, and add to it a mental health issue or two that involved impulse control and an inability to manage anger, you've got a recipe for trouble. It's a recipe that these recruiters to the "holy cause" understand and exploit with great frequency. It's impossible to know if this guy was recruited, or he was a "self starter." What we do know is that his actions and impulses had deadly consequences.