The clip resurfaced in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which struck the Southeast and caused widespread devastation in late September. The timing has only intensified backlash on FEMA’s response, with people now accusing the agency of diverting attention from its primary mission to score political points. In the leaked virtual meeting, Atkins, who uses he/they pronouns, is heard saying the agency is prioritizing LGBTQ people because they are “already disadvantaged.”

Atkins added, “They already have their own things to deal with. So you add a disaster on top of that, it’s just compounding on itself.” The remarks have raised concerns that FEMA is focusing on so-called “disaster equity” at the expense of a more traditional approach of helping all victims equally and efficiently.

“The shift that we’re seeing right now is a shift in emergency management from utilitarian principles, where everything is designed for the greatest good for the greatest amount of people, to disaster equity,” another FEMA worker explained. However, the shift is not sitting well with some officials and politicians, who claim it is a misguided departure from FEMA’s core mission. […]

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