Yesterday Lawrence King, a 15-year old student at E.O. Green Junior High in Ventura County, California was shot by a fellow student with whom he'd had an ealier "altercation" over the fact that other students perceived him to be gay.
Today Lawrence King was declared brain-dead and placed on a ventilator awaiting the possible donation of his organs. His assailant, another student who was 14-years old, was caught minutes after the shooting and is now in custody.
According to the Los Angeles Times:
The teenager sometimes wore feminine clothing and makeup, and proclaimed he was gay, students said.
"He would come to school in high-heeled boots, makeup, jewelry and painted nails -- the whole thing," said Michael Sweeney, 13, an eighth-grader. "That was freaking the guys out."
"Freaking the guys out." And the acceptable response to any perceived threat to a man's masculinity is violence, and not only violence but deadly violence.
Being gay I've gone through my set of trials and tribulations, there isn't a gay person who hasn't. After placing 2nd in state in a diving tournament while in high school I felt confident enough to come out of the closet, at the time I was 17. I was surprised by how well my friends, classmates and teammates took it. But I was also bitterly reminded of the cost of being openly gay when someone spray-painted "fag" on my family's driveway - with an arrow helpfully pointing to our home.
10 - 15 years ago gay teenagers put up with harassment. If may have not condoned but it wasn't condemned, it was the price many thought you should pay for being gay. But today gay youth are coming out earlier and earlier because they don't feel being gay is something to be ashamed of. This is a positive development except when it results in harassment or death - as it did for Lawrence King.
From the LA Times article it appears there was an escalating series of incidents before Lawrence King was shot:
Several students said that a day before the shooting, King and several boys had some kind of altercation during the lunch period.
And again we're reminded of the dangers gay students and youth face in America's schools:
A student thought to be gay was five times as likely to be threatened or injured by a weapon, a 2002 California Department of Education study said.
And at the same time this violence takes place the right-wing, seconded by the Republican party, actively opposes efforts to teach tolerance or to actively prohibit anti-gay bullying. In essence their position is that maybe a beating or two might set a kid "straight." They may not put it in those terms but that's the message they're sending - that to beat up, harass or kill someone because they're gay is not going to be condemned.
I am infuriated by this case and by the fact that when a gay youth decided to be honest about who he is he's met with violence and harassment and in this case - death. If these kinds of incidents don't wake politicians and school officals up to this problem then I don't know what will.
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
NGLTF
UPDATE: Wow - at the top of the rec list - thanks guys!!