23 February 2008

some people would say "better late than never..."

i say, "'bout f****** time!"

The NYT's today, finally, put an article on the Lawrence King murder by a classmate for being gay at school in its paper. FIFTEEN days AFTER it happened! And I won't count the 89 word announcement: National Briefing|West on Feb. 13th or the 112 word one on Feb 16th when he was taken off life support. The two were merely announcements.

Boy’s Killing, Labeled a Hate Crime, Stuns a Town

OXNARD, Calif. — Hundreds of mourners gathered at a church here on Friday to remember an eighth-grade boy who was shot to death inside a junior high
school computer lab by a fellow student in what prosecutors are calling a hate crime....

In interviews, classmates of the two boys at E. O. Green Junior High School said Lawrence had started wearing mascara, lipstick and jewelry to school, prompting a group of male students to bully him.

“They teased him because he was different,” said Marissa Moreno, 13, also in the eighth grade. “But he wasn’t afraid to show himself....”

On the morning of Feb. 12, Lawrence was in the school’s computer lab with 24 other students, said Mr. Keith, the police spokesman. Brandon walked into the room with a gun and shot Lawrence in the head, the police said, then ran from the building. Police officers caught him a few blocks away....


The alleged shooter is being held on $77,000 bond and will enter a plea at a court hearing on March 21st. He could go to jail for 52 years to life.

[anyone wanna bet what the plea that some smarta** attorney is going to have him use? no takers? didn't think there would be...]

The assailant is a victim too - a victim of homophobic training; his parents should be charged with a hate crime also. Whether they encouraged it openly or by omission makes no difference. They are responsible for their son. Where do you suppose he got the gun?

As far as the gun, there had been talk among the kids for a couple of days before that the shooter had not just been agitated but had made threats. Some people might get angry for my saying this but, Why didn't any of those kids warn an adult in the building or at home? I have to blame them for this tragedy also.

Now, before anyone gets into a huff, I worked in schools for almost my entire adult life. The last 15 years were in a school that was the neutral boundary between two gangs. We made it very clear to the kids that they had a responsibility to report to an adult, and it would be anonymous if they asked, of anything that they believed could become a problem. If there was any talk of a weapon, they had to let someone know because we made it clear that in most cases the intended victim wasn't usually the one to get hurt or worse. It was always others in the wrong place at the right time.

They pulled through for us all the time. Once, though the weapon was inoperable, it worked. I was very proud of my kids. They knew how to handle it. Of course, the difference here may be that my kids lived with this fear as part of their natural surroundings; Oxnard may be merely coming from an ignorant position - they didn't know. One parent asked why there were no metal detectors. We had the hand-held type and would do unannounced random checks. In Chicago high schools the students go through metal detectors like at the airport every single day and bag searches also.

It's a sad statement about our society and our children.

The treatment of LGBTQ children is not all that uncommon and never has been. Since Matthew Shepard it's been brought to the fore. People are more aware. People are more apt to think twice. People are more willing to help - one way or the other. The outrage is finally starting to take hold - slowly.

There have been vigils and memorials not only in Oxnard, where the shooting occurred, but all across California and in other cities around the country. People remembering Lawrence for his courage to be who he was, for his laugh, for his smile, and for his cute boots. There is a memorial website for Lawrence here.

if you want to help make a difference, here are two sites you can visit and contribute and take action:


my sadness at the loss of one child for any reason is immense and has been unbearable at times, but for something that they are and proud enough to share, it's unforgivable.

stop, think. learn, make a statement...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The kid didnt deserve to be killed for who and what he was, but come one be serious. Where were the responsible adults letting this kids come to school in drag? Where is the dress code ? We all know how cruel kids can be, you will never change that no matter how much sensatizing you do

mike/ said...

I agree that is an issue with which the school needs to deal, and the parents in the community have asked it. There was a uniform dress policy at the school and it wasn't being enforced. So, the adults were there and ignoring the rules.

I believe I read somewhere [sorry, i couldn't find it again] that Lawrence's mother did not know he was wearing that clothing. How can that be?

My school had a uniform policy: all students were to wear yellow tops and navy blue skirt/slacks. It was a constant battle, especially with the 6th-7th-8th graders. Parents would consistently tell us when we called about it that their children were wearing uniforms when they left the house.

The kids would stop off at someone's house, where no parents were home, and change into whatever they wanted. Once they got to school it was up to the staff, especially the teachers, to enforce the uniform policy.

Our reason for the policy was two-fold: 1) acceptable dress & 2) gangs.

Gang members are required to wear gang colors at all times - and they were not yellow and blue. If a gang member was caught not wearing the colors s/he was severely punished by other gang members. Consequently, the kids would wear something under their school uniform, but they had to have some part of the color showing.

The Dean and I would confiscate any clothing like this and the kids would get really angry because they could get in trouble.

I always found it funny that they fought following the rules at school and with their parents yet would put themselves into a dictatorship like atmosphere in the gang.

Clearly, the school failed on this with Lawrence. They'll crack down on it and in 6 months the kids will be back at it again.

it's another sad thing to try to understand about this. there is more than enough blame to go around from the kids to the adults to the school system to the school district to the state and to the federal government.

something needs to be done, but it takes a long time to deal with attitudes. they do not transform easily or on their own.