I wanted to write a post about the murder of Lawrence King on February 12th in my own words tonight, but I still can't. I've tried to sit down and write about it a dozen times, but I get so furious and nauseous just thinking about all the implications that I just can't write about it with a clear head.
Every time I've tried to write about it, it just ends up something like...
"FUCK YOU PASSIVE AND/OR AGGRESSIVE HOMOPHOBES. STOP FUCKING WITH US. WHEN YOU FUCK WITH US, YOU FUCK EVEN MORE WITH MY LITTLE GAY AND LESBIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS. I DON'T GIVE A FUCKING SHIT ABOUT HOW YOU SPEAK AND LEGISLATE ABOUT ME AS A GAY ADULT, BUT GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND REALIZE THAT YOU ARE FUCKING WITH GAY AND LESBIAN CHILDREN. AS AN ADULT, I CAN FIGHT YOUR HOMOPHOBIC ASS, BUT A TERRIFIED 14 YEAR OLD GAY CHILD IS NO MATCH FOR YOU. SHAME ON YOU. FUCK YOU"
See...that's why I haven't been able to write a post about this. I like to think that I am more eloquent and controlled than to write something like that. But that's how I feel right about now..
I get so angry and full of venom about the insidious bigotry that gay and lesbian children are innocent victims of. Bigotry and homophobia disguised as "family values" and "protection of marriage" and "conservatism".
Here's the Cliff Notes version...
All the bigotry...whether it be obvious to the extent of a Reverand Phelps or subterranean like dirty jokes or legislation, that trickled down to a child from his elders that gave him the signal that it was ok to murder another child that asked to be his Valentine.
There were two victims on February 12th. God help us all. In one way or another, we are all indicted and responsible for what happened that day.
Consider the obvious messages and the subliminal messages you send to our children...to our little gay and lesbian brothers and sisters...when you speak and when you pray and when you legislate.
You with the sad eyes dont be discouraged though i realize its hard to keep courage
In a world full of people You can lose sight of it all And the darkness inside you Can make you feel so small
But I see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that's why I love you So don't be afraid to let them show Your true colors True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow
show me a smile then dont be unhappy i can remember when i last saw you laughing
If this world makes you crazy And you've taken all you can bear You call me up Because you know I'll be there
And I'll see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that's why I love you So don't be afraid to let them show Your true colors True colors are beautiful,
"Two days before a shotgun-wielding Steven Kazmierczak shot 21 students inside a lecture hall on the campus of Northern Illinois University, taking the lives of five people as well as his own, 15-year-old Lawrence "Larry" King was shot in the head at the E.O. Green School in Oxnard, California, reportedly for being gay. He was in the eighth grade.
Three days after the shooting, on February 15, King was taken off life support and pronounced dead.
King's killer, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney, apparently targeted the student because he was openly gay and sometimes dressed in women's clothes. King also wore makeup and jewelry to class on occasion. It's possible that McInerney, who has been charged with murder and the commission of a hate crime, will be tried as an adult, which means he could face 50 years to life in prison if convicted.
King's death came 10 years after the brutal murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, who was also killed because of his sexual orientation. But for some reason, King's murder generated just a fraction of the media coverage that follows most school-shooting incidents. In fact, most of the initial reports about the killing were turned out by local news agencies, and the national media didn't catch up until several days later.
A series of candlelight vigils have been held throughout the U.S. in the wake of the student's death (an estimated 1,000 people marched in Oxnard the weekend following the murder), in an effort to raise awareness of what many feel was a largely underreported case. MTV News attended one such vigil on Friday night, just outside of Los Angeles, where dozens gathered — not with candles but glowsticks — to remember King.
Now the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a leading gay-rights student organization, has decided to make King's murder one of the central themes of this year's annual Day of Silence on April 25.
"This year, we're going to incorporate, within the Day of Silence, a way for students to remember Lawrence King and sort of use it as a day to honor him and to bring attention to what happened," said GLSEN spokesperson Daryl Presgraves. "The overall themes will include King and the immediate need to address anti-LGBT harassment. If ever there were a sign that schools need to realize how far such harassment can go, and why it's important to address it now, it's Lawrence King."
Since King's murder, there have been 30 candlelight vigils throughout the country, with one planned for Washington, D.C., early next week (a complete list of these events can be found at GLSEN.org). Presgraves wasn't sure exactly how the national Day of Silence would commemorate King's passing, but said the theme of the day will be remembering the slain student.
"It's a prevalent and pervasive problem in all of our schools," he said of anti-LGBT violence and bullying, adding that he's not quite sure why King's death was all but ignored by the national media. "For whatever reason, there's still a lack of willingness to address the anti-LGBT bullying that goes on in schools. We don't know why, but there's still sort of this sense of having our heads buried in the sand. What happened to Lawrence King is a much more isolated incident, but what happened leading up to his death happens to youth every day, all the time. He was just expressing himself, and we're seeing more of this — youth are being open at an earlier age, and they are proud of their identities, but that doesn't mean someone won't bully them for it. In this case, King was bullied to such an extreme ... you can't get worse than that."
In addition to organizing the national Day of Silence, GLSEN pushes for anti-LGBT-bullying legislation, and works with schools to tackle the problem. Currently, there are only 10 states that protect students from bullying based on sexual orientation: California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. Five of those states protect students based on gender expression and identity (California, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota and New Jersey).
"We encourage all states that it's something they can start addressing," Presgraves said. "In almost every state, there is something that can be done right away."
I don't know what set me off today, but I am pissed off at everyone EXCEPT John McCain, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton.
It's the first time since I voted in my first presidential election in 1976 that I genuinely like and respect every candidate that is currently a possibility for election. This is the first time in 30 years that I can say that in my opinion, there is no clear good guy and no clear bad guy in this race.
I like the fact that Hillary has a definite voting record that I agree with most of the time. I would feel perfectly comfortable with her as president. My pocketbook would vote for her. She has the most sound and level-headed and visionary economic plan of the three.
I like and respect the Kennedy-esque optimism that Obama has aroused. A multi-racial, multi-cultural US Presidential face could very well be the healing my country needs. I'm not concerned about his lack of experience in Washington...in fact, I'm enamored with that. I would be comfortable with Obama as the next president.
I like and respect John McCain. If there has ever been a candidate that pushes all my right buttons, it's him. Point by point, he reflects my personal convictions more than anyone I can say that I have had a chance to vote for. Gay friendly, pro-life, level headed and compassionate, skews the same as I do on foreign policy, Iraq, and immigration. This could very well be the first (gulp) Republican I have ever voted for. I would be comfortable with John McCain as the next president.
I love these three...but I hate everyone on the periphery right now. I'm pissed off at anyone that uses or allows themselves to be drawn into subterranean bullshit that detracts from the real issues...
...All the stoic neo-nazi homophobic wing nut conservatives. The self-serving nihilistic mother fuckers at Fox News. Smarmy, hateful little twits like Bill Cunningham and his OxyContin buddies. AND...spineless two-faced fake liberals like John Lewis and the editors at The New York Times shackled by indebtedness.
This is a historic and important moment in history for the US. I just hope everyone understands that. For the past 8 years, we have passively allowed ourselves to be cast as simplistic, paranoid school yard bullies. The events of 9/11 tested and horrified us. We lashed out and reacted...as we should. BUT..the other shoe never fell. A great president would have appealed to the world community and rallied. He didn't. We elected a weakling and a reactionary and a clueless, oil indebted cowboy and we paid the price with the needless loss of young, innocent American and Iraqui lives.
The US dollar is tanking against most other currencies in the world. Tax breaks and lowered interest rates have been doled out willy-nilly by the last administration with no regard to the long term effects. Good Lord! Do Americans have such a short term memory that they don't remember the disasterous results of Reagan Trickle-Down voodoo economics????
Let's face it, yall...GWB sucked us dry...financially and emotionally. And we just sat there and let it happen for another 4 years. Good Lord..what is wrong with us?
I have a challenge for you.
Imagine yourself in a room with 100 of your friends.
1) Know that more than 10 percent of these people have a religious conviction that may be different from yours.
2) Know that more than 10 percent of these people have different definitions of compassion than you do.
3) Know that more than 10 percent of these people have had enlightened but different life experiences than you have.
4) Know that more than 10 percent of these people may be gay and lesbian.
5) Know that more than 10 percent of these people may be first or second generation immigrants. Know that you can't trace your own family history back too far to discover that you aren't very far removed from someone that stepped onto American shores from a foreign country.
I think I heard this first from my grandfather...(I'm paraphrasing)..."Don't judge a person's character by the way they treat those they look up to. Judge a person's character by the way they treat those that look up to them"
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If you have not joined in, you are really missing out!
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