Middle school hate crime murder: Gay-bashed or Non-normative-gender-bashed?

[ariesallover]

Middle School Hate Crime Murder

Date: 15-Feb-2008


[Pictured Above: Young friend of Lawrence King is comforted during the aftermath of Tuesday's shooting. Photo Credit: The Los Angeles Times]

WASHINGTON — Three days after a 14-year-old shot a classmate at E.O Green Junior High in Ventura County, California, a community mourns, a school district scrambles to review its safety policies, and eighth-grader Lawrence King has died.

Medical authorities announced Lawrence brain dead earlier this week; he was removed from life support this morning. The shooting, which has the classmate facing up to 50 years in prison, appears caused by his hostility to King's wearing high-heels, makeup, and jewelry, and his being gay.

Teenagers account for one-third of youth and young adults targeted in fatal assaults because of their gender identity and expression, according to a 2007 GenderPAC report.

On Tuesday, February 12, gun shots rang out near the end of a first period computer lab class full of students. Brandon McInerney, 14, who reportedly told peers that Lawrence was "having his last day," had shot his classmate in the head and back.

"[Lawrence] 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." Classmates reported that Lawrence was a frequent victim of teasing and harassment. School officials, who were aware of the teasing and had spoken with Lawrence before the shooting, are now planning to review all of their policies.

Said GenderPAC Executive Director, Riki Wilchins, "This is a tragedy. More young people are claiming the basic right to express their gender authentically, but fatal violence against them keeps occurring. Our hearts go out to the family involved. We hope this unnecessary death will help wake people up to the many other young people who have left us too soon."

GenderPAC's 2007 report, 50 Under 30: Masculinity & the War on America's Youth documents an under-reported tide of violent assaults that has claimed the lives of more than 50 young people 30 and under since 1995 in assaults that targeted them because of their gender identity or gender expression. About 9 in 10 were biological males who were presenting femininely, like Lawrence. 88% were Black or Latina; one-third were teenagers. (50 Under 30: Masculinity and the War on America's Youth)

Additional studies of school safety in California by the California Department of Education reveal that students who were gay or perceived to be gay were more than five times more likely than other students to report being threatened or injured with a weapon. Student reports confirm that finding, more than half of students said that school was unsafe for boys who weren't as masculine as other boys in a 2004 California Safe Schools Coalition survey.

The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition works to ensure that classrooms, communities, and workplaces are safe for everyone to learn, grow, and succeed -- whether or not they fit expectations for masculinity or femininity. To learn more about GenderPAC, visit Gender Public Advocacy Coalition.

Gender Public Advocacy Coalition : About GenderPAC

[southernbelle]

1. Why is the woman on the right in the picture laughing?

My middle school had rules prohibiting cross dressing for this very reason.
The administration knew other students weren't mature enough to handle it and it was for the safety of the kids who were "different"- to prevent them from being bullied and ridiculed at school. If they wanted to cross dress in the privacy of their own home, that was one thing, but our dress code specifically prohibited it.

This is a sad situation. I feel for his family. I always knew that kids in middle school are mean, but I didn't think they would take it to this extent- actually killing someone because he is different.

[AliceInWonderland]

yeah this happened near me, its really sad, the poor poor kid

[Grimmlok]

I wonder how much it was for "safety", really.

Unfortunately, people doing exactly what this kid did every day (and was brave enough to do) is what is needed in order for society to evolve.

I hope the shooter rots. A 13 year old picking up a gun and murdering someone with it knows exactly what he's doing. He knows murder is wrong, so the whole "not mature enough to understand" argument will hold absolutely no weight with me.

Throw him on death row, he's forfeited his right to continue existing.

[AliceInWonderland]

everytime i see the boys picture on tv it breaks my fucking heart. and i have memories to back when i was a kid and some kids i knew who were like that and got picked on, it just breaks my heart so badly to know how he suffered and then was killed over who he was, even in this day and age.

and I agree, the murderer needs to be tried and convicted as an adult and his parents need to be grilled! this is dispicable! where does someone learn this type of shit but at home imo!

School Shooting Victim Taken Off Life Support
LOS ANGELES (AP) ― The 15-year-old boy shot in an Oxnard classroom has been removed from life support after organ harvesting.

The coroner picked up the body early Friday for an autopsy.

Lawrence King was earlier declared brain dead and prosecutors charged a 14-year-old classmate with premeditated murder with hate-crime and firearm-use enhancements. California law allows prosecutors to file murder charges when brain-death occurs.

St. John's Regional Medical Center nursing supervisor Sue Crews said the teenager was taken off life support Thursday night. There were no details about the organ harvesting procedure.

Senior deputy medical examiner Armando Chavez said King's body was picked up by the coroner's office at 1 a.m.

Brandon David McInerney allegedly brought a handgun to E.O. Green Junior High School Tuesday and shot King in the head.

McInerney was charged as an adult in Superior Court.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
cbs2.com - School Shooting Victim Taken Off Life Support

just look at how adorable he was; he was just a child for gawddssakes!!!!! I just hope that he didn't feel any pain

[southernbelle]

I don't understand how these kids are in "Junior High" but they're 14 and 15 years old. I thought junior high was 6th to 8th grade?

[Grimmlok]

Junior grades in high school are 9 and 10, senior years are 11 and 12.. so the ages are about right.

[Just Kill Me]

Yeah so did I; maybe they had birthdays earlier in the year and one was already older? Or maybe they call 9th grade campuses middle schools now?

[Dixie Normos]

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

I wonder how much it was for "safety", really.

Unfortunately, people doing exactly what this kid did every day (and was brave enough to do) is what is needed in order for society to evolve.

I hope the shooter rots. A 13 year old picking up a gun and murdering someone with it knows exactly what he's doing. He knows murder is wrong, so the whole "not mature enough to understand" argument will hold absolutely no weight with me.

Throw him on death row, he's forfeited his right to continue existing.

Other than the death penalty part, I totally agree. It is brave to do what you want, esp. if it goes against the ever changing 'norm.' 30 years from now this probably won't be an issue.

It's so weird, the shooter thought that murder was more acceptable than cross dressing. But then guns are legal everywhere in the states and cross dressing isn't. So maybe it isn't so weird after all.

[crumpet]

What is it with men that makes the behavior of other men so threatening, especially so much that they think it is acceptable to murder someone in cold blood for challenging the stereotype of what a man is supposed to be like? It really makes me wonder what latent tendencies the murderer had because I cannot fathom another reason that it would trigger such a reaction.

[Dixie Normos]

^^ what worries me is that they find the thought of being feminine, of being a woman so terrible. and if they feel it is so terrible, why continue treating us poorly? Instead of taking responsibilty for keeping us in a demeaning second-class position by treating us well, they instead attack other men showing femininity just as bad if not worse than they treat born women.

[crumpet]

^^^Yeah, because being like a woman is the lowest thing on earth.

[Grimmlok]

Chances are he was a huge closetcase. That's how it usually is. The ones screaming "Faggot" are the ones with the urges that they have to bury and they take it out on those able to live their life out in the open.

[ariesallover]

Originally Posted by crumpet

latent tendencies

There ya go.