Murdered Gay Boy’s Family Blames School for Letting Him Wear Makeup

FOXNews.com ^ | Friday, August 15, 2008 | Associated Press

[metmom]

VENTURA, California — The family of a gay teenager who was fatally shot in class blames the school district for allowing their son to wear makeup and feminine clothing to school — factors the family claims led to the death.

The parents and brother of 15-year-old Larry King of Oxnard filed a personal injury claim against the Hueneme school district seeking unspecified damages for not enforcing the dress code, The Ventura County Star reported.

[Chickensoup]

the kids was a ward of the state living in a facility to help abused people recover.

Being an out-there homosexual is enough to qualify for the facility esp if you have a powerful lesbian principal involved/

[metmom]

A ward of the state for a reason. I suspect that it had to do with the parenting.

Why they should be upset that the school didn’t enforce the dress code when they obviously couldn’t enforce their parental authority before it got to the point of the kid ending up in state care, is beyond me.

Besides, what’s a kid in that kind of mental condition that he’s under special care away from home, doing being allowed to go to school unsupervised anyway?

[claymax]

15-year-old Larry King of Oxnard

This is going to be considered frivolous, it wasn't the makeup and clothing, it was his name that got him shot.

[hoppity]

She's been promoted to principal of an elementary school, actually. http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/aug/15/county-schools-face-king-claims/

"Assistant Principal Joy Epstein, the only person named in the complaint, is accused of encouraging the boy to wear "women's clothing, shoes and makeup." She created an environment of "perceived safety" for King when "in fact she could not and did not protect Larry from the threats and ultimate death," the claim says.

Epstein, who has been promoted to the principalship of Sunkist School, did not return a call seeking comment. But Dannenberg said the claims against her are absolutely false."

[lady lawyer]

There was a very informative article in Newsweek a few weeks ago. I don’t know how to post links, but here is the url:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/147790&GT1=43002

[lady lawyer]

Absolutely.

[Varda]

Then it’s a textbook case of a bully getting more than he bargained for. Wonder why the media isn’t reporting it?/s

[piytar]

Bears repeating: “If the school had told them you can’t cross dress they would have sued for discrimination. Jackals!”

[lady lawyer]

Whaddya know. It made itself into a link.

[Tzimisce]

...if the school hadn’t let this kid wear makeup, the headline would read “Family sues school for denying student rights”....

[weegee]

Did the parents prohibit these things at home or did they buy them for him?

[thefactor]

"King was a ward of the court and living at a shelter for abused, neglected and emotionally troubled children at the time of the shooting."

seems the parents didn't care what this kid did. i'd like to smack them in the mouth.

[weegee]

"...he was stalking the boy who eventually shot him, hitting on him and making comments suggesting that the other boy was gay, and threatening to tell the school that they two of them were having sex."

All of that is harassment. It is also defamation of character, slander, and blackmail.

It was a provoked attack.

[longtermmemmory]

which teacher was sexually recruiting the child?

did this school have a sex club in the form of GSA? (’gay’ straight alliance club)

there is no “homosexual” child unless that child has been recruited by the monsters inside the teaching profession.

[weegee]

What support did the school give the student who was been sexually harassed?

What measures were they taking against his same sex stalker?

[dhs12345]

A reasonable defense for the boy. Wonder how much the school encouraged or looked the other way while the boy was being harassed?

Looking the other way when someone was being bullied used to be common not long ago (before Columbine). Imagine it still happens.

Still not justification for murder, though.

[SoftballMominVA]

Public Education Ping

This list is for intellectual discussion of articles and issues related to public education (including charter schools) from the preschool to university level. Items more appropriately placed on the “Naughty Teacher” list, “Another reason to Homeschool” list, or of a general public-school-bashing nature will not be pinged.

If you would like to be on or off this list, please freepmail Amelia, Gabz, Shag377, or SoftballMominVa

[SoftballMominVA]

I’m thinking that the enforcement of the dress code was the least of King’s problems. His main problem was that his birth parents did not parent, but gave that responsibility over to the schools.

[JamesP81]

The family of a gay teenager who was fatally shot in class blames the school district for allowing their son to wear makeup and feminine clothing to school — factors the family claims led to the death.

Have these people considered that it might be more appropriate to blame the guy who shot him?

[TheBattman]

Yet the same family would likely have brought suit with the help of the ACLU had the school ENFORCED the code... After all, would not letting him wear make-up have been a suppression of his right to “express himself”?