A FEMA disaster preparedness meeting about 'focusing efforts on LGBTQIA+' victims has resurfaced following the agency's response to Hurricane Helene. 

In a virtual meeting from March 2023, FEMA Emergency Management Specialist Tyler Atkins alarmingly said the agency was prioritizing LGBTQ people because they are 'already disadvantaged.' 

'They already have their own things to deal with. So you add a disaster on top of that, it's just compounding on itself,' Atkins, who uses he/they pronouns, told the panel.

It comes as FEMA has faced mounting backlash in the weeks since Hurricane Helene tore through the southeast and killed at least 227 people, amid allegations the agency 'ran out of money' after spending billions on illegal immigrants. 

In the past two years, FEMA - the Federal Emergency Management Agency - has reportedly handed out over $1 billion of taxpayer dollars to fund the housing of illegal immigrants. 

This figure sparked outrage in the wake of Helene, with residents in flood-hit North Carolina claiming the response from FEMA has left them disappointed and relying on volunteers. 

FEMA has denied inappropriate allocation of funds. 

While victims say they have been left scrambling for survival, some critics resurfaced Atkins' March 2023 remarks as they slammed FEMA's priorities. 

In the clip, which has racked up over 15 million views since it was shared on X on Sunday, Atkins argued that LGBTQ victims should receive more support because they would have been 'already struggling' before a natural disaster. 

'That is the 'why' for why we're having these discussions,' he continued. 'It isn't being talked about and it isn't being socialized - we're not paying attention to this community.' 

He then passed the conversation to Maggie Jarry, a senior emergency management specialist at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

She claimed that rather than helping as many people as possible, FEMA should instead adopt a policy of 'disaster equity' that prioritizes people from minority communities.