Where is the outrage?

[antonyh]

I received this email from Fight Out Loud:

With the announcement of the shooting death of Lawrence King, just 15, one has to wonder-- where is the outrage and outcry from the public and media?

King was, by all accounts, a young man who was teased at school for his feminine characteristics and sexual orientation. He was brutally gunned down in school by a fellow student, Brandon McInerney. Police are still investigating, but have charged McInerney with a hate crime.
I can’t help but notice, however, that no media outlets really seem to be covering this. The LGBT blogs are buzzing and angry, but the 24 hour news stations are still focusing on anything but the violent loss of this young man.

It seems the media and public are more concerned with where Britney Spears is, what’s the latest in the old case of a missing pretty white girl in Aruba, or who made American Idol’s top 24. Meanwhile, young kids are getting shot in school for simply being themselves.

At the very least it would make sense, with the other horrific school shooting in Illinois, to mention King’s murder.

But still there is silence.

Why is the life of a boy living outside the gender-norm less newsworthy? Why is the general public not having vigils or crying for him?

Where is the outrage?

We can no longer stand by and let our youth get quietly gunned down. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the effects of anti-LGBT rhetoric and bigotry. We cannot let this fade into the background.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of Lawrence.

My anger goes out to the people not concerned with the loss of this young life.

I hope our community can come together to make sure the life of this young man is not forgotten. Let your outrage and anger be heard. Demand it be recognized.

Demand that Lawrence King’s life, and violent death, not get swept under the rug.

[Zerbie]

O dear, I have not seen coverage of this.

Is this from your blog, Ant? Have you sent out press releases? I'm no expert, but I guess it's worth a try.

As far as the greater concern with distractions, that is the way society has been habituated, lately. I'm not excusing it. I'm expressing dismay over it.

[antonyh]

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.

According to a 2007 GenderPAC report, 90% of youth and young adults targeted in fatal assaults because of their gender identity and expression were males who looked or acted femininely. One-third were teens.

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. (www.50under30.org)

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 www.gpac.org.

Gender Public Advocacy Coalition
http://www.gpac.org/archive/news/ind...ws&msgnum=0704

Here is the LA Times Article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,7663055.story

[antonyh]

PS...Are the Democrats going to reintroduce the Hate Crimes Bill into the Senate as the promised?

[andrewlittle]

I'm trying to remember where I had seen this - it was yesterday, and I keep coming back to CNN as the website.

It is deplorable that it is not being reported in more detail.

We remembered Lawrence during the pastoral prayer this morning in church.

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by antonyh

PS...Are the Democrats going to reintroduce the Hate Crimes Bill into the Senate as the promised?

...but I bet the scramble to get a Democrat elected President will mean that the matter is far away on the back burner. Do they have the votes right now? I doubt it.

And watching Bill Moyer's Journal the other night, I was stunned to learn that both parties have/are making it impossible for the public to (that is the Congress itself) look into matters concerning the War etc. Congress seems to have a vested interest in keeping the public from knowing too much. This kind of stance is similar to the situation with the young man who was killed. There is an unwillingness to face those issues which need facing. And the media plays along, not asking the hard questions.

Is that because of the corporate nature of the 'news' these days? I think so. Dan Rather has been yelling about this for a while now, as have others. News was once separate from entertainment: now- news is intertwined with profits and is geared towards the interests of stockholders.

Christ! I watch BBC a good deal just to find out what happened here at home.

My heart grieves for this young man's family....

I read about it here....

http://www.towleroad.com/2008/02/gay-student-sho.html

[antonyh]

Here is Nancy Pelosi's statement on reintroducing the Hate Crimes Bill:
http://www.speaker.house.gov/newsroo...leases?id=0432

When the Bill was attached to the Defense Reauthorization Bill, it passed:
60 Yeas, 39 Nays and 1 no votes

The votes are there, not the backbone.

The issue is the ever looming Presidential veto. I imagine that the Democrats don't want to spend time on something sure to fail by veto.

And yes it is an election year.

[Daniel]

Glad to hear that the votes are there!

Originally Posted by antonyh

The votes are there, not the backbone.

While it's no laughing matter, maybe we should be sending the democrats corsets.

The issue is the ever looming Presidential veto. I imagine that the Democrats don't want to spend time on something sure to fail by veto.

I fear that you are exactly right about this.....

And yes it is an election year.

[Zerbie]

Who taught that 14 year old kid that gay men (trans women?? "feminine-acting" men) are expendible? Who put it in his head that they should be slaughtered?

Whoever did so not only contributed to the murder of the 15 year old, but ruined that 14 year old child's entire life. What that kid has to deal with now, having done that!!

We need to draw parallels between the things we are teaching our children and tragedies like these. Kids listen to what society teaches them growing up and that informs their choices.

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Who taught that 14 year old kid that gay men (trans women?? "feminine-acting" men) are expendible? Who put it in his head that they should be slaughtered?

Whoever did so not only contributed to the murder of the 15 year old, but ruined that 14 year old child's entire life. What that kid has to deal with now, having done that!!

We need to draw parallels between the things we are teaching our children and tragedies like these. Kids listen to what society teaches them growing up and that informs their choices.

I am glad you brought this up. As Gender Identity becomes more visible, the assault has begun. Christianity Today (An Evangelical voice) just wrote a vicious article titled, "The Transgender Movement". In that article they quoted Warren Throckmorton as saying:

Whether mentioned in Scripture or not, the transgender movement clashes with traditional Christian theology that teaches the only God-given expression of human sexuality is between a man and woman who are married.

“Transgender impulses are strong, but they don’t match up with the Christian sexual ethic,” says Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. “Desires must be brought into alignment with biblical teachings, but it will be inconvenient and distressful.”

Throckmorton, past president of the American Mental Health Counselors Association, says he has advised transgendered people who are in absolute agony over their state. Typically, such individuals are desperately in search of hope and acceptance, he says. It may be uncomfortable to tell transgendered individuals that their desires don’t align with the Bible, Throckmorton says, but pastors must do so. “Even if science does determine differentiation in the brain at birth,” Throckmorton says, “even if there are prenatal influences, we can’t set aside teachings of the Bible because of research findings.”
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/...ary/25.54.html

Now the guy is trying to side step what he said on his blog:
http://wthrockmorton.com/2008/02/14/...gender-moment/

I lay the blame for Lawrence's death at his feet because HE and others like him are creating the system of oppression that puts these ideas in kids heads.

You can comment on Throckmorton's blog.