Orlando: Omar Mateen, the 29-year-old shooter, who sparked off an outrage across the world with the inane Orlando killing was reportedly gay and shared his penis pictures on varied dating apps. He also tried to make a move on one of his friends who was not out of the closet then. According to the friend, in an attempt to woo him, Mateen once approached the former saying, “If you were gay you would definitely be my type.”
As quoted in a Daily Mail report, Mateen’s friend said, “He asked me whether I was gay and because I wasn't out at the time I said no after which Omar said if you were gay you would definitely be my type.”
Read: Orlando shooter Omar Mateen was homophobe, wife beater: reports
Mateen often frequented gay clubs and apps in order to pick up men. Grindr, Adam 4 Adam were some of the apps which the shooter often used. He used to share penis pictures on the apps and had also subscribed to few of the gay clubs’ pages. Besides, he was often seen in one of the most talked of gay clubs in Florida, Pulse hitting on men, buying them drinks. He had a particular style of striking conversation with men, said a drag queen who performed in the aforementioned club.
Though Mateen’s friends and other witnesses have confirmed his sexual orientation, his wife and father’s account are at loggerheads. According to his wife, he could have been gay as he liked visiting clubs. Further, his gesticulations and lifestyle bear testimony to his alleged sexual orientation.
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His wife said, “From everything that has occurred and connecting the pieces to what I knew myself from my time and experience, I would not be surprised to know that he was gay.'
On the contrary, his father in a video rubbished the fact that his son was gay. However, later on, taking to a mellowed tone, he said that one should be given space to practice his or her own ideas and live a life according to ones own whims and fancies.
According to a FBI profiler, Mateen might have been going through an identity crisis. “He might be confused about his orientation and struggling to figure out his choice,” the profiler added.
Mateen’s instable state of mind testifies his relation with his former wife. In an interview, a former wife of the suspect who left him in 2011 fearing for her life, said he was violently abusive.
Read: Gunman in Orlando gay club shooting was a regular: report
“He was not a stable person,” the ex-wife told the Washington Post, which did not identify her because she fears for her safety. “He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that,” she said.
According to the wife’s account the pair had met in New York and in March 2009 had moved in together in Fort Pierce, Florida. The woman’s parents later rescued her from the relationship and the pair were later divorced, according to a court document.
She described him a private person but not especially expressive about his Muslim faith. He owned a small caliber handgun and worked as a guard at a secure facility for juvenile delinquents.
