OlderRemembering Lawrence King
CNN host Anderson Cooper just blogged about a shooting at a junior high school computer lab in California that happened two weeks ago. Consequently, as a result of a hate crime, 15-year-old Lawrence King was shot to death.
Anderson, 40, posed the question, “When does bullying become a hate crime?” Here’s his entry:
“We are focusing on a story that hasn’t received the attention it deserves. The story is about a young man named Lawrence King. He was 15 years old. On the morning of Feb 12, a classmate of Lawrence’s allegedly walked into the computer lab in front of some two dozen other students and shot Lawrence in the head. He was declared brain dead later at the hospital. According to authorities, this was not a random killing, it was a hate crime. Lawrence had recently told people he was gay, and apparently wore clothing that was viewed as effeminate. According to many accounts he had been bullied repeatedly, and some parents have even claimed students knew of threats to Lawrence’s life. At this point it doesn’t seem clear how much school officials knew of the bullying, but a full investigation needs to be done. If this had been an African-American student bullied by a teenage skinhead would it have received more attention? Would school officials have taken it more seriously if it had been a Christian campus leader attacked by another student because of his/her religious beliefs? I don’t have the answers to those questions, but I do think they are worth asking. Bullying is a problem in schools across the country. We’ve seen this time and time again. Is enough being done to stop it?”
In response to this hate crime, both Democratic presidential candidates released statements regarding this tragic event:
Said Hillary Clinton, “I was deeply saddened by the recent death of 15-year-old Lawrence King who was killed at his school in Oxnard, CA. No one should face intimidation or violence, particularly at school, because of their sexual orientation or the way they express their gender identity.We must finally enact a federal hate crimes law to ensure that gay, lesbian and transgender Americans are protected against violent, bias-motivated crimes. We must send a unified message that hate-based crime will not be tolerated.”
Barack Obama is on the same page, adding, “It was heartbreaking to learn about Lawrence King’s death, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. King’s senseless death is a tragic example of the corrosive effect that bigotry and fear can have in our society. It’s also an urgent reminder that we need to do more in our schools to foster tolerance and an acceptance of diversity; that we must enact a federal hate crimes law that protects all LGBT Americans; and that we must recommit ourselves to becoming active and engaged parents, citizens and neighbors, so that bias and bigotry cannot take hold in the first place. We all have a responsibility to help this nation live up to its founding promise of equality for all.”
The L.A. Times also has a write-up of last week’s memorial service for King: “At a memorial attended by more than 500 people in Port Hueneme, Lawrence “Larry” King was remembered Friday as a sensitive child who liked to draw, paint and crochet. One Christmas, he helped his mother crochet hundreds of scarves so that U.S. troops in Afghanistan wouldn’t be without a holiday gift.”
You can also visit the website that King’s family set up: RememberLarry.com.
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96 Comments
April @ 02/26/2008 at 12:53 pm
April, your comment has a political taint to it and thus is misplaced here. No offence but it is inappropriate.
#69……… @ 02/26/2008 at 12:06 pm
I hate to disappoint you but I am Canadian and have traveled enough to know that America is not alone with its problems of hate and intolerance.
# 58 April
Are you SURE none of your kids are gay?
What are you going to do if they are huh?
methinks april is a self righteous b*tch. don’t you have perfect little family to tend to april? get off this thread c u n t.
thats terrible, i have a few friends who are bi or gay and a lot of other people at my school are, and no ones been shot there..but theres hate crimes that happen and of course the school officials are too busy dealing with their precious money to care. its horrible that he died but im not surprised it wasnt more public, news stations wont post about gays unless theyre famous which i think is stupid.
hilary really cant think that she can stop hate crimes like that? they’ll never stop, people break the law already. the school should care more about their students. i go to one of the top 250 high schools in the US, great education, most the teachers care, but anyone else on the schools staff like to make jokes about it there, theyd rather not deal with these things, they dont want to lose money, thats all its about.
They should TORTURE the shooter. Then, when found guilty, give him the DEATH PENALTY.
.
He does not deserve to live. He’s a monster.
.
He should *********** for what he did.
The shooter should _r_o_t____i_n____h_e_l_l_.
ITA Fred. That piece of human excretment should r o t i n h e l l.
Fcuking murderer.
#76, I’m not saying that hate and intolerance don’t exist everywhere else in the world because I know that they do. I’m simply wondering why things like school shootings only seem to occur in the States. Theres been 5 shootings in the US this year alone…and its only February!!
Maybe its just the shear size of the country that at least one is bound to happen? Or maybe they’re just not broadcast in other countries? I have no idea but it’s very scary the frequency these things have started to occur.
Jacinta, and Bianca, I think you must have dealt with these issues up close and personal to respond to me in such a way. I haven’t said anything that isn’t completely true. Obviously you were not able to discredit it so the best you can come up with is name calling, pitiful. As for my family if one of my children turned out to be gay, I would love that child just as much as any of my other children. That does NOT mean I would accept a lifestyle that included homosexuality. I believe that my children are not leaning that direction, as you can usually see something is off from early on. So I don’t think I will have to be faced with that certain issue. But…being the Mom of several children I will probably have issues that will come up that I will not find acceptable, and I will do my best to guide that child to the best of my ability through whatever it is. My problem is what I said would happen and from what I have read it is happening. Several groups of the gay lifestyle are starting to use this as a platform to try and further their agenda. Which is to push thier lifestyle on everyone else and make everyone accept it as if it is an ok way of life. This kid is going to be lost and his name used for others to benefit in the wrong way. Who is to say this kid was even really gay. He may have just been confused and lost, and with all the mixed messages their are these days that is highly likely. Point is this kid, someones baby, was killed for no lagitimate reason other than some other kid obviously being lost, confused, and angry.
to the editor of this website there are alot of TERRIBLE THINGS that happen to AFRICAN AMERICANS THAT ARE IGNORED EVERYDAY!
YOU ONLY HERE OF THEM MONTHS LATER BY WORD OF MOUTH OR THROUGH THE NEWS AFTER WE CONSTANTLY KNOCK ON THEIR DOORS TO LISTEN. I’M TIRED OF THE COMPARISON THAT BEING GAY AND BEING AFRICAN AMERICAN ARE THE SAME, HELLO IT’S NOT, WHEN WE WALK INTO THE ROOM YOU SEE BLACK PERSON, IF A GAY OR LESBIAN WALK INTO A ROOM YOU DON’T KNOW IT UNLESS THAT SPEAK ABOUT IT. AS FAR AS THE YOUNG MAN WHO WAS SHOT, HIS PARENTS SHOULD BE MORE ACTIVE LET THE NEWS AND ANYONE THAT WILL LISTEN KNOW WHAT HAPPEN TO THEIR CHILD EVERYDAY UNTIL SOMEONE LISTENS TO THEM, THAT IS WHAT WE AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE TO DO…….POUND THE PAVEMENT WHEN YOU ARE TREATED UNFAIRLY.
Barack is right. This should teach parents, teachers and just about anyone who is an influence any kid out there to become more involved in these children’s lives.
#20. There are bullies everywhere, not just in public schools.
Barack is right. This should teach parents, teachers and just about anyone who is an influence to any kid out there to become more involved in these children’s lives.
#20. There are bullies everywhere, not just in public schools.
#84. I don’t think gays “push” their lifestyles on anyone. They just want to be accepted and not be treated like they’re less human because they love differently. And I don’t understand how you can say that if you had a gay kid, you would love them just as much as your other kids however you wouldn’t accept their lifestyle at the same time.
Hillary’s statement is true, we need to do something about this. This story is so sad. R.I.P Lawrence King
Hillary 08
I feel bad for BOTH families! He must have gotten it SOMEWHERE that it was OKAY to HATE GAYS, and have THAT much hate. Also where did he get the weapon? I feel bad for both families’ losses….. Especially if this young boys family thought his actions were ok. What a shame.
I keep coming back to this story, cuz it just breaks my heart…all stories like this do.
I agree with Obama and Hilary, and i hope one of them will lead our country.
As far as the shooter….He needs to be punished to the fullest extent that the law can punish a 15 year …his family should be grilled too. So many unanswered questions this story brings up and out. How did he get a gun ? Why was his hate this strong ? Why would someone’s hate cause this. It’s sick and sad.
And i agree with many other views…Taking someone’s life for ANY reason is horrible…hate crime or not.
My heart goes out to The King family and friends. God Bless You All.
The World needs Peace and Understanding.
I pray it will happen.
My personal point of view is that being gay or a lesbian etc. It’s all about love and being who we want to be. It’s about choice. Why can’t males love males and females love females. If all males loved females and that was that, wouldn’t that make the world a very one minded place, for all males to be with females, having children, or maybe not having children, and living in the way we were told they should. Who tells us these things anyway. Not everyone believes in God, I personally do, but not everyone. Everyone is unique, so why can’t they stay that way, why shouldn’t we as people, not countries, nations or races, but as people, be who we want to be, love who we want to love. This is what we all try to do. Hence why we have love and hate. Some people choose to love and unfortunately, some people choose to hate. I truly believe love conquers all though. I hate labels, why should we be labelled by colour, race, religion, sexual preference. People are missing the bigger picture. We are all human beings, we are all in the same boat in that sense, no matter what we experience in life, who we meet, what we do, how we do it, we are all human beings. Whereas I personally believe there are far more shootings in countries where guns can be brought over a counter, rather than in countries where they can’t. Crimes are committed all over the world. This is a very sad story, but at the end of the day, no one knows the full picture, and why should they, the bottom line, no matter what, is that a human being was murdered, and that isn’t acceptable. It’s not about legallising hate crime laws, hate is all over the world, but love is too. Terrible things happen every second, every minute, every hour, every day. We will never know about them all but they happen. This is just a very sad story and I feel for the victims family and friends, and for the people who saw it happen. I am not in anyway pushing this under the carpet, I think it should be a wake up call, but when I think about that, a wake up call to what. Some people will start doing something about crime, because of this, others won’t, but at the end of the day, crime is all over the world and It’s a very sad world we live in. When you truly think about it, how can we stop crime,we can’t, not all crime, we can lock people up, in some countries, execute people, but other crime will still occur, it’s sadly the way it is. I wish it wasn’t. I mean look at the history of the world, lots of war and crime happened, but a lot of other amazing things too. I don’t understand why colour, race, religion or sexual preference should come into it. As I said before, we are all human. We should be able to love who we love, whether gay or straight. Who wrote the rules, think about that. I am a religious person, but not all of us are. We all have our own belief system, not everyone is going to accept people being gay, straight, a certain colour or religion or that we come from a certain country, that is just how it is. There is no point pushing our beliefs on others, or complaining to people or swearing at others because they don’t agree with us. Sure, from a personal point of view, I thought what April said, was a bit harsh because nothing is being pushed on anyone. Everyone chooses who they want to be in life, we are maybe influenced by things, but we all have our own minds and I don’t think it’s fair to blame the way we think or feel on other people. For instance, I have seen those ‘Saw’ movies, but it doesn’t mean I am going to go out and toture people. Sadly some people will think differently to me. But again, that is my personal belief system. I just don’t feel we should be pushing our way of thinking onto April, and causing rifts on here. One of my best friends is gay, but why should I label him like that, he is just a best friend, why should it matter what his sexual preference is, just like it shouldn’t matter I am straight. We tend to label gay people as gay people, so why are we just known as people if we are straight. My best mate is just that, my best mate, and if he is gay so what, he is happy to be and he is an amazing person, so I believe he should be happy, and if being gay makes him happy so what. He is different to me with regards to he is gay and me straight, and he maybe male and me female, but he is a person, who loves, laughs, cries, grows, works, learns etc. We may not know eachother, but we are all related to one another in the sense that we are all HUMAN.
This is MY personal point of view, not everyone will agree with me, we are all entitled to our own opinion. I just don’t feel we should cause rifts because someone doesn’t agree with us. But again people feel they should do so and start swearing at others. See. Nothing we can do about the way people think. Its the way life is. No law will stop that.
R.I.P Larry, hope you’re in a better place now ***
At the end of the day, the bottom line here is that someone was murdered. May he rest in peace.
I also feel that it’s not about getting a hate crime law it is about making the purchase of guns illegal. There are far less shootings in countries where the purchase of guns is illegal. However saying this, there are also vicious crimes in those same countries. Therefore, crime is all around us, simply because, people choose to committ it, for whatever reason, it’s a choice that people make, and no law can stop a person from thinking how they want to think, doing something they want to do and feeling something they want to feel.
I want to start off by saying that a lot of people claim to be a Christian, but don’t see anything wrong with homosexuality. God sees something wrong with it. Why shouldn’t every person that claims to be a Christian see something wrong with it? Aren’t Christians suppose to see the same thing that God sees?
God also sees something wrong Bestiality (sex between human and animal) and incest (sex between kinfolks).
How many people who claims to be a Christian, who believes that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality, believe the same way about bestiality and incest?
Many homosexual will tell you that they born that way. Guess, who else are claiming the same thing. Pedophiles! Which group of people are lying and why? Lets not forget that there are many homosexual pedophiles in this world.
No one is born a homosexual. According to God’s truth, everyone is born a heterosexual. God created woman for man. I am not trying to be nasty, so please don’t take this the wrong way, but there is a reason why God created male with a certain sex organ and female with a certain sex organ. If God wanted two males to be together and two females to be together, he would have created their sex organs to fit.
Now, what happen to Lawrence is sad and wrong and yes, the young boy that killed him should go to jail. He committed murder. Now, is the crime a hate crime? Many people believe it is. Then again, it doesn’t mean it is.
According to what Ellen Degeneres discussed on her show about Lawrence. Lawrence asked his killer to be his valentine. I found that to be disrespectful and especially, if Lawrence knew that the guy was straight.
Many homosexuals are bold to come on to straight people. A lesbian came on to one of my cousins. But, my cousin put her in her place in a nice way.
Lawrence’s killer should have told a teacher that Lawrence asked him to be his valentine, instead of killing Lawrence.
#94: While I’m sure Christians would appreciate your point of view, not everyone is a Christian, myself included, and thus don’t agree or appreciate your point of view. I believe homosexuals are born that way, the same as I believe pedophiles are born that way. Theres lots of research to indicate differences of brain structure and chemical imbalances in homosexual people. The same for pedophiles. However, there is a main difference between homosexuality and pedophilia in that pedophiles are clearly harming another person. So I don’t think its right of you to compare homosexuals and pedophiles.
I also don’t see the big deal with Lawrence asking the other kid to be his valentine. Yes, it probably made the other kid feel very awkward as he’s not gay and thus Lawrence probably shouldn’t have done it if he knew the other kid wasn’t gay. But being asked out by someone your not attracted to isn’t new. It happened to me last night in the bar which made me feel awkward but it doesn’t mean I’m going to be mad and make a scene. I don’t see how this situation is any different, really. Just because some people are uncomfortable with homosexuality, doesn’t make it wrong.
Everyone should watch this video of what Ellen had to say on her show. She makes really good points, not just in reference to being gay but to our society in general. It applies to so many things.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kyvZIz6dRvM
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