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 Community
Still Coming To Terms With Gay Teen Slaying
by The Associated Press
Posted: March 28, 2008 - 3:00 pm ET
(Oxnard, California) Lawrence King was a gay
eighth-grader who used to come to school in makeup, high heels and earrings. And
when the other boys made fun of him, he would boldly tease them right back by
flirting with them.
That may have been what got him
killed.
On Feb. 12, another student,
Brandon McInerney, 14, shot him twice in the head at the back
of the computer lab at their junior high school, police say. (story)
The slaying of the 15-year-old
boy has alarmed gay rights activists and led to demands that
middle schools do more to educate youngsters about
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Police would not discuss
McInerney's motive. But the day before the shooting, King told
McInerney he liked him, eighth-grader Eduardo Segure told the
Ventura County Star.
If King had flirted with the
other boy, "that can be very threatening to someone's ego
and their sense of identity," said Jaana Juvonen, a
psychology professor at the University of California, Los
Angeles.
McInerney was jailed on
$770,000 bail on an adult murder charge that could put him
behind bars for life. Prosecutors also filed a hate-crime
enhancement, which could bring three more years if McInerney
is found to have acted on the basis of the victim's race,
religion, nationality or sexual orientation.
The shooting has galvanized
Oxnard, a city of nearly 200,000 people about 60 miles
northwest of Los Angeles. Several vigils for King have been
held, including a march that drew about 1,000 people to this
strawberry-growing section of Ventura County.
Like the killings of some other
gay students - such as Matthew Shepard in Wyoming, and Brandon
Teena, the Nebraska transsexual whose story was the subject of
the movie "Boys Don't Cry" - King's death has drawn
national attention and outraged many gays.
Comic Ellen DeGeneres, who is a
lesbian, said on her talk show Feb. 28: "Larry was not a
second-class citizen. I'm not a second-class citizen. It is OK
if you are gay."
Students at E.O. Green Junior
High said the other kids used to taunt King, call him names
and throw wet paper towels at him in the boys' restroom, and
he would bravely fire back by flirting with them and chasing
them.
"He didn't like people
insulting him," said his friend Miriam Lopez, 13.
"Larry was brave enough to bring high heels and makeup to
school and he wasn't afraid of anything."
Jerry Dannenberg,
superintendent of the Hueneme School District, would not
discuss details of what went on between King and McInerney but
said students are encouraged to come forward if they have been
threatened.
He also said that King was free
to wear women's accessories with his uniform of white shirt
and dark pants because the dress code prohibits only those
items that could be a safety threat, such as steel-toed shoes.
"If girls are wearing
jewelry, you can't stop boys from wearing it, too," he
said. "Each gender has the right to wear what the other
does."
The school system said that it
has tolerance programs in its middle schools, but that sexual
orientation is often not dealt with until high school. Since
the killing, school officials have been meeting with gay
leaders about changing the program.
"With young people coming
out at younger ages, our schools - especially our junior highs
and middle schools - need to be proactive about teaching
respect for diversity based on sexual orientation and gender
identity," said Carolyn Laub, executive director of the
Gay-Straight Alliance Network. "The tragic death of Larry
King is a wake-up call for our schools to better protect
students from harassment at school."
A 2005 survey by the Gay,
Lesbian, and Straight Education Network found that more than
64 percent of gay and lesbian students report verbal, sexual
or physical harassment at school, and 29 percent said they
missed at least a day of school in the previous month out of
fear for their safety. The group is holding its annual
"Day of Silence" in memory of King on April 25.
The families of both boys have
refused to comment. An e-mail message left for McInerney's
attorney was not immediately returned.
Both teens have been described
as good kids.
King and his mother crocheted
hundreds of scarves that were shipped to U.S. soldiers in
Afghanistan. The avid singer planned to belt out the national
anthem at his brother's opening-day baseball game this spring.
"He had an amazing voice
and was always singing," said Averi Laskey, 13, a friend
since elementary school. "He would stick up for you no
matter what. Larry was the best kind of person you could
meet."
McInerney was described as the
typical eighth-grader, goofy and fun to be around. He trained
to be a lifeguard and took martial arts. He also enrolled in
the Young Marines, a group similar to the Army's Junior
Reserve Officers' Training Corps.
The two had at least one thing
in common: rough upbringings.
King had been in foster care at
a center for abused and neglected children since November,
said Steve Elson, the facility's chief executive.
Confidentiality laws prevented him from saying why.
McInerney's parents accused
each other of domestic violence and filed dueling restraining
orders, according to court records. Several months before
McInerney was born, his father was accused of shooting his
mother in the elbow. Kendra McInerney told a local paper she
struggled with drug addiction for many years. The couple
divorced in 2002.
Jay Smith, director of the
Ventura County Rainbow Alliance, a gay rights organization,
questioned whether teachers have enough training to deal with
gay teens.
"Those of us being out
remember being bullied and we don't want to see that happen to
another kid," he said.
©365Gay.com 2008
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