Gay Star News described a young, white gay basher as "angelic" and people are pissed
Not today, Satan.
On Wednesday, gay news website Gay Star News published a report on a northern California teen who shot two club-goers with a paintball gun as they were leaving a club. In the piece's original headline, which has since been changed, the outlet described the young, blonde shooter as "angelic."
The headline has since changed to just call the attacker "the teen," but the outlet's original tweet is still up:
The internet was none too happy with Gay Star News' decision.
Internet users have called out the discrepancies in the way the media portrays white people versus how it portrays black people before. After the death of Michael Brown, the New York Times referred to Brown as "no angel." With the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, Twitter highlighted how victims of police brutality are often portrayed with negative images in the media, even though they are victims.
As Gay Star News' tweet shows, white people often get the benefit of the doubt. Even if they shoot gay men with paintball guns, they still can be seen as angels.
Mic reached out to and spoke with Gay Star News, who declined to comment.