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http://www.newsweek.com/2008/07/18/young-gay-and-murdered.html
There is little I can add to this article. I thought to post it here because it was considered a murder and not a suicide. You will have to ask yourself if the boy's actions were responsible for ending his life.
The writer does give a well rounded examination of the situation. In all our postings this past month we have seen the ignorance and carelessness of the administrators who allowed the bullying to go on in their schools. I don't see that in Larry King's case, he was a unique individual and it looks like they did their best to accomodate him. It was just not enough.
Was he gay? There will never be an answer for that. It appears he was playing a role, an immature adolescent boy in drag. Was his death a hate crime? I'm sure we each have our own thoughts on that.
[Updated on: Tue, 05 October 2010 20:34]
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
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saben
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On fire! |
Registered: May 2003
Messages: 1537
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Hate crime? No more than shooting someone for cheating with your wife is a hate crime. Larry's actions were the motive. But of course murder is never justified. But I do not believe he was killed because he was gay.
The fact that kids aren't allowed to be a disruption and that there's still a stigma around being gay that made Brandon feel so bad is horrible. There needs to be social change, but that'll take a long time. Brandon should not have felt any more threatened by Larry's advances than if it were a girl that was as flamboyant.
Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
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I don't know, Sabien. At 14 I would rather think Brandon would feel terribly upset that the school "Queer" was making a pass at him. Hell, at 14 I would have been upset at a boy in a dress doing something like that to me.
Brandon's reaction was incredibly wrong, but then he had the means, thanks to his parents, to get his hands on a gun. His home life also contributed to the error he made.
The whole event was carried out in public and yet there was no one to mentor the situation. To me this shows a great lack of training in the school staff. Both boys should have been sat down and allowed to speak about their feelings. If Larry thought this was one big joke he certainly misjudged the situation.
This is just such a sad state of affairs. Brandon's trial begins next month and I will wait to see how it is presented. I have heard nothing abut the parents being held accountable for making the gun available to a juvenile and I would hope that is addressed.
[Updated on: Tue, 05 October 2010 22:01]
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
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Whatever he did it did not deserve death.
He appears to have been a fool, and the school seemed to take a slew of incorrect decisions while doing their best. Even hindsight doesn't suggest the right decisions.
I'm kind of guessing that Brandon was the first victim here and Larry was the second. It must have been like being asked on a date by Liberace in front of all your friends.
But Brandon was wrong to take the revenge he took.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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... should be, and are, that of Bullying, aided and abetted by stalking behaviour, and should be labeled accordingly. No hate motivation, directly attributable to one or the other being Gender confused, should be either implied, or asserted.
The militant LGBT advocates that have co-opted, firstly the youth's death and its' circumstances, and secondly the further tragedy of the accused, to mitigate their own agenda is wrong and should be rectified ofr the sake of all concerned.
Warren C. E. Austin
The Gay Deceiver
Toronto, Canada
[Updated on: Wed, 06 October 2010 14:39]
"... comme recherché qu'un délice callipygian"
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Like everything else I have been reading over the past month, this is both disturbing and tragic. Any loss of life is a tragedy, and all the more when it is our youth, especially when caused by another youth.
That said, I believe that bullying goes both ways. Though this may not have been a "classic" case of bullying, I think that Larry's "in your face" approach with the boys in his school can be looked upon as just that, a form of bullying. On a daily basis he seemed to taunt and humiliate not only himself, but also his schoolmates. I'm not so sure that this was a "hate" crime because he was gay or maybe because of his personalty.
Although it was totally the wrong remedy, I think Brandon had had enough and had just been tipped over the edge.
Damn, I hate reading about all these deaths.
I prefer guys that don't come in a box.
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DesDownunder
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Likes it here |
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Registered: September 2010
Messages: 127
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It doesn't seem right to judge these boys from outside their particular set of circumstances. To explain what I mean, look at this scenario from my own 14 year old past.
I was just 14 in high school after having suffered daily bullying for the first 7 grades of primary school.
Imagine my surprise when I (a highly shy, recessive, naive 14 year old who had low self esteem) was approached by one of the bullies from my past to ask me if he could "play with my dick?"
Naturally I told him to go away. Three times I told him to go away, but the fourth time he assured me I would like it, so I agreed, and did (like it.)
Why didn't I report him? Why didn't I feel bullied by his demands? Why didn't I feel affronted? I suppose because it was what I always wanted, and it did not conflict with any thing I had been taught as being wrong. My family were failed Christians preferring to stay home and drink wine than do so in a church.
In Brandon's and Larry's case, the roles were not only reversed, but also each boy had extreme trouble in coming to terms with the circumstances in which they found themselves. My point being that every case is different and while we can point to psychological disturbances in both boys, the big difference between their story and mine is that cultural indoctrination seems to at least play some part in their tragedy. Tragedy is very much what it is for on that fateful day, two boy's lives were ruined.
The school is to blame for not having an anti-bullying program in place. the culture is to blame for not maintaining a LGBT program of acceptance and support, and that includes any religious organisation as well.
Arguing that Brandon should have known better or that Larry should not have flaunted himself really amounts to a lack of understanding of the pressures and tensions both were suffering in a culture of bigotry and intolerance.
This is likely to continue until we replace the indoctrination of children with education based on intellectual honesty instead of lies and religious fairy tales. In my opinion.
DesDownunder
Call me naive if you want, but life without trust in the goodness of others would be intolerable.
Religious indoctrination: It gets better, without it.
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Actually, I was not intending to state that one should not have done this, or the other should not have done that. I merely was stating my opinion of what MAY have led the the end result of this tragedy. I myself grew up as a gay boy and am well aware of the pressures and tensions involved as such. My own bullying was no less than most, but fortunately did not lead to tragedy, although it was close at one point.
I prefer guys that don't come in a box.
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