Exactly one month after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, the victims and their allies of the Orlando nightclub massacre are still waiting on Congress to vote on such a resolution. We say "still" because it's been 13 legislative days since Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) introduced a resolution condemning "the horrific acts of terrorism and hatred in Orlando ... and expressing support and prayers for all those impacted." That was June 16, four days after the attack.

That delay puts Orlando well outside the average wait for congressional resolutions approved after similar tragedies. An analysis by the LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign found that since 2007, the average time between a similar resolution being introduced and voted on was 3.7 legislative days, which usually translates into a little more than a calendar week.

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Gay rights groups like the Human Rights Campaign are tallying this up because they feel it's yet another indication that Republicans are treating their tragedy — and their community — differently, an insult that comes on top of years of doing battle with conservatives for their rights.

"I think we've seen from the start here that there's been a real reluctance to acknowledge the LGBTQ community," said David Stacy of the Human Rights Campaign.

It's not clear why Congress hasn't voted on the Orlando resolution — or whether it ever will. A senior GOP leadership aide said resolutions aren't passed after every tragedy and pointed to the fact that House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) held a moment of silence a day after the shooting to honor the victims. The House is planning to leave Friday for a seven-week recess.

It is clear that Republicans shied away from speaking about the gay community after Orlando. A Washington Post analysis found more than 10 times as many Democrats addressed the LGBT community in their statements — 123 — as Republicans — 19. (Compare the blue, Democrats, to the red, Republicans, below):

This has opened up the Republican Party up to criticism, including from some of its own, that it's not sympathetic enough to LGBT Americans after the community was the target of such horrific violence.

As The Fix's Aaron Blake noted after the shooting, Republicans are less likely than Democrats to approve of the idea of being gay. A 2015 Pew Research Poll found that 59 percent of Republicans would be "upset" if their child was gay or lesbian (including 30 percent who would be "very upset.")

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Of course, there is certainly a case to be made that spending time voting on a resolution that condemns an act most lawmakers have already condemned in separate statements is a waste of time.

But to the extent that symbolism matters at all, Congress is the place where it resonates. The Orlando massacre came at a politically sensitive time between the LGBT community and Republicans. In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, they've battled on everything from who can refuse whom wedding cakes to who can use what bathroom and locker rooms. The battle has been mostly playing out at the state level, but Congress has dipped into the culture wars recently, too.

On Tuesday, a Republican-led House committee debated a bill that proponents argue would protect religious universities that oppose same-sex marriage from losing their tax exempt status. Opponents say the bill would allow homeless shelters and food pantries to turn away gay and transgender people.

The fact that the bill was being debated one month after the Orlando massacre — a month that has passed without a resolution acknowledging the victims — only feeds into the narrative among LGBT advocates that Republicans don't care about them.

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