A photo of Lawrence King lays at a memorial in his honor.
Posted on 02/15/2008 10:29:06 AM PST by paltz
(CNSNews.com) - A 14-year-old California boy is charged with a hate crime as well as attempted murder for shooting a 15-year-old boy who "sometimes wore makeup, high heels and other feminine attire," as the Associated Press reported.
The victim, Lawrence King, is brain dead, and prosecutors expect this to become a murder case very soon. They want to try the young suspect as an adult.
King was shot in the head Tuesday morning while sitting in class at a junior high school in Oxnard, Calif.
California has some of the nation's most liberal anti-discrimination, anti-bullying and "diversity" laws, including several that apply to schools and took effect on Jan. 1.
Homosexual activists have seized on Lawrence King case.
"Ten years after Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered because of his sexual orientation, a 15-year-old gay California student is brain dead after a student allegedly shot him because of his sexual orientation and gender expression," the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network said in a news release. (The group says it's main focus is ensuring safe schools for all students.)
According to GLSEN, the 14-year-old suspect was among a group of students known to bully and harass King, who reportedly told classmates he was homosexual.
"As a nation, we've had our heads in the sand for far too long," said Kevin Jennings, executive director of GLSEN. "We need to do everything we can to prevent something like this from happening again."
GLSEN says the problem of "anti-LGBT bullying" must be addressed in the nation's schools. "We must confront the fact that LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] students are much more likely to be threatened with a weapon and much more likely to feel unsafe at school than other students," Jennings said.
Judy Shepard, executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, said the attack on King "underscores the fact that we cannot let hate go unchecked in our schools and communities." She urged "all parents and teachers to educate their children and students about acceptance, understanding and compassion."
California leads on LGBT issues
As GLSEN itself noted, California is one of only 10 states that protect students from bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation. It is one of only five states that protect students from bullying and harassment based on gender identity/expression.
"Safe schools laws and policies are vitally important, but simply having a law is not enough," Jennings said on Thursday. "Schools need to implement staff development and training to address anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. Schools also need programs that teach young people respect and tolerance."
Too much emphasis on sex, some say
But some conservative groups say California has gone overboard when it comes to "sexual indoctrination" in the schools.
The California-based Campaign for Children and Families has just launched an appeal urging parents to removed their children from public schools.
The group argues that home schools and church schools "are the only way to rescue children from sexual indoctrination."
CCF points to two news laws, SB 777 (The Student Civil Rights Act) and AB 394 (The Safe Place to Learn Act), which took effect on January 1.
SB 777 bars any classroom instruction or school-sponsored activity that "promotes a discriminatory bias" against sexual orientation and gender. (According to CCF, the bill "functionally requires public school instructional materials and school-sponsored activities to positively portray cross-dressing, sex-change operations, homosexual 'marriages,' and all aspects of homosexuality and bisexuality, including so-called 'gay history.'")
AB 394 requires that school districts be monitored to ensure they are complying with laws regarding student safety and harraasment. (CCF said AB 394 "requires public schools to distribute controversial material to teachers, students, and parents which promotes transsexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality, all under the guise of 'anti-harassment' training.")
"This is the type of gender-bending education which students may have to endure unless their parents rescue them from the increasingly negative public school environment," said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, at a news conference earlier this week.
CCF has set up a RescueYourChild Web site to help parents who are concerned about the new laws.
Where was this kid’s parents, that let him go to school dresses as a chick? It still doesn’t excuse the other guy from shooting him.
A photo of Lawrence King lays at a memorial in his honor.
A charge of murder should be sufficient.
Tacking on the “Hate Crime” modifier just plays into the satisfaction of the socialists so that they can feel good about themselves.
The crime was sufficiently heinous by itself. There is no need to make it more so.
There are consequences for what we do. This guy is now out of a pension!
Well he was an adult, and not to be pitied. However, s KID going to school dressed as a woman is another thing. Again, where were his parents who allowed that.
I didn't fail to understand your comment. The kid was shot in the back of the head...he couldn't easily defend himself if he didn't see it coming.
Also...if your attacker has a firearm, and you do not...your chances of surviving a confrontation are fairly minimal.
BTW, the Supreme Court has already said 14 is too young an age to "fry".
I know that, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it.
The kid murdered another kid in cold blood...he should FRY *IMO*
Sure - how 'bout this one?
I'm not claiming Hitler has merit; I'm asserting rather that California is slouching toward another form of tyranny.
There is a distinct probability, the shooter (McKierney) killed the other student (King), to prove to himself he was not gay. Perhaps, he had been friendly with the victim (King) and was harassed by other male students, and took his anger out in King.
We could all be wrong couldn't we. Maybe the 15 year old did nothing other than turn down the 14 year old ~
We had a homosexual murder in our neighborhood about 25 years ago. Two male school teachers who were known to be homosexuals went home together to partay. Something happened. Then one of them hit the other with a baseball bat and killed him.
As much as we'd all like to know the actual motives and some more of the "background" we won't get it because the shooter is 14.
It doesn’t matter what happened other than to know that the victim was murdered by being shot in the head. The shooter should pay the ultimate penalty for his actions unless it’s found that his actions were in self-defense. (doesn’t seem to be the case here). There is no justification for cold-blooded murder...the killer needs to pay
Unless someone decides to try the kid as an adult we'll never hear the outcome.
No one is questioning that the (soon to be) killer needs to pay.Of course the killer should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Of course the gay boy is the real victim here. Those things are not in doubt.
What is not clear are the reasons why the boy was shot, and whether or not the penalties for the (soon to be) murder should be dramatically increased because the victim was gay. Do we really want a legal system that gives a woman three years in prison for murdering her husband but gives two consecutive life terms to two men for murdering a homosexual? Why does our legal system seem to regard some lives as being so much more valuable than others, and some cold-blooded killers as so much more forgivable than others?
Liberals rank people by race, sex, and sexual orientation. Blacks are more valuable than whites, women are more valuable than men, and gays are more valuable than straights. Many conservatives, including me, strongly disagree with that ranking system, and do not enjoy seeing it tip the scales of justice. I think that is very likely to happen in this case.
I hope that the killer receives exactly the same sentence he would receive for killing a non-homosexual. No more, no less. Anything else would be an injustice. I hope that if the killer is tried as an adult, that the whole story behind the shooting is made public. I very much doubt that the shooting occurred just because the boy was gay, no matter how much gay activist groups and the liberal MSM would like for it to be so.
I know of a young man (homosexual) in Colorado who was killed because he was gay. He was a student in Highschool...his name was Fred Martinez Jr.
His killer smashed his head in with a rock and left him to die in the weeds. Some of his story can be found here: http://www.fuah.org/fuah_cortez.html
I am a survivor of a violent crime...my attacker was given 85 years for what he did to me. This boy’s killer was given 40 years. I’m grateful for the long sentence my attacker got, and feel that this killer got off easy.
Sentences are getting too lenient.
Sentences should not be based on the sex or sexual orientation of the victims or perpetrators. They should be based on the crime committed.
Thanks for the information, I didn’t know about the second part.
100% agree with you on this!
Best,
Etixos
Thank you. It’s been a long time, but it doesn’t seem to get any easier.
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