Posted on 08/15/2008 9:04:56 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Well lets see, who bought him the clothing?
Who allowed him to purchase the Makeup?
Did they let him leave the house wearing makeup and feminine clothing?
Would they have sued the school for NOT allowing him to dress that way to express his Freedom?
Would the ACLU have gotten involved and sue the school for not allowing to express his first amendment rights?
There are exactly three people to blame, The parents and the kid that pulled the trigger. But most of the blame goes tot he parents for letting him walk out the door dressed like that int he first place.
LOL...you know I just reread my post and what I meant to say was how is the schools fault...my apologies.
So now their kid is a Lottery Ticket.
I am remembering that is why I think these parents have a valid claim. If the school is promoting sexual recreation among minors then the school is liable. Additionally, if the government is taking the child away from the parents and the child ends up dead, then the school is responsible.
Lets not forget it is unclear WHY this child is dead. What if this child is dead because of a sexual encounter encouraged by the school went horribly wrong?
don’t foreget GLSEN actually ENCOURAGES sexual conduct with and by minors.
I thought that was what you meant based on the rest of what you wrote, but I was not completely sure
The loss of any life diminishes us all, but why did the parents allow their son to wear makeup and feminine clothing to school.
It’s possible the school was unaware. Many boys would not want to tell anyone someone was doing that to them. Of course, the school may well have been aware, and then—I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes. Bullying is taken quite seriously these days.
susie
“If the school had told them you can’t cross dress they would have sued for discrimination. Jackals!”
Didn’t Kalifornia pass a law that employers had to let cross-dressers/transvestites/she-men dress as women (or whatever) on the job?
no their child was sacrificed on the altar of government school sanctioned hedonism.
if you take the child from parents, you have to pay the price when the child dies.
I can give many examples of very obvious harassment of all types, that went on for a long time because teacher did nothing, and that the teachers almost certainly knew about. That was years before Columbine, though.
And it sounds like one of the teachers, the lesbian, encouraged the other boy.
You are correct, too — boys, even young boys, are aware of their masculinity. However, they are very shy and innocent. It would be embarrassing to talk about something like this.
Agreed about the bullying. My wife is a teacher's aid for a public school. Sometimes we think they go a little over board with the anti-bullying.
One teacher asked him why he taunted the boys in the halls, and Larry replied, "It's fun to watch them squirm." But Brandon McInerney was different. Larry really liked Brandon. One student remembered that Larry would often walk up close to Brandon and stare at him. Larry had studied Brandon so well, he once knew when he had a scratch on his arm—Larry even claimed that he had given it to Brandon by mistake, when the two were together. Larry told one of his close friends that he and Brandon had dated but had broken up. He also said that he'd threatened to tell the entire school about them, if Brandon wasn't nicer to him. Quest, Brandon's defense attorney, says there was no relationship between Larry and Brandon, and one of Larry's teachers says that Larry was probably lying to get attention.
Shooting someone was over the top by all means, however, this kid went out of his way to provoke others, knowing that he was doing is and liking it. Why should anyone be surprised that someone else finally snapped and dealt with it?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/147790
Read the whole story here. Faculty members encouraged the outrageous behavior of King, who was sexually harassing the boy who shot him. There are many fingers of blame to be pointed in this case. It is sickening beyong words.
A PC school system with homosexuals with an agenda on the faculty, 2 troubled boys.... a disaster just waiting to happen.
So true.
You and are in complete agreement.
40 years ago the two of them would have gone behind the school and at least one of them would have ended up with a bloody nose, and the problem would be over.
His parents, Dawn and Gregory King, said faculty members knew their son had "unique vulnerabilities" and was subject to abuse because of his sexual orientation.
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.
Blue was Larry King’s favorite color eye shadow.
Along with his signature black, high-heeled boots and varying shades of lipstick, friends say he wore dramatic makeup and dressed more flamboyantly in the last two weeks before he was shot to death by a classmate at an Oxnard middle school.
The cosmetics added a quirkiness to his personality, friends said. But they didn’t define the 15-year-old boy Melissa Castillo knew.
“He didn’t know he had a lot of friends,” Castillo said. “We all thought he was funny but not in a mocking way. We all really liked him. I wish he knew that.”
Castillo was standing with four of her friends at a candlelight vigil to honor Larry King, held in Ventura Friday night.
The 15-year-old E.O. Green Junior High School eighth-grader was perceived by classmates as a gay or cross-dressing student who had been bullied.
“He didn’t have to tell me; I saw it. We all saw it,” Castillo said.
The shooting on Tuesday has brought scrutiny to how middle schools in Ventura County address and prevent discrimination that can lead to violence toward teens with different sexual orientations or gender identities.
In the days leading up to his death, King was helping Castillo get ready for the school Valentine’s Day dance, she said. Castillo is the co-president of the Associated Student Body.
“He’d come up to me with different ideas for the dance,” she said. “He thought about getting a photo booth.”
Castillo said King had been transferred to her gym class — from eighth to sixth period — because he was getting picked on. In gym class, he would wear regular clothes with sneakers, she said.
(snip)
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/feb/16/slain-teen-remembered-as-fun-quirky-at-rainbow/
Yes, it’s something that many (most?) schools try to address, but bullying is a tough nut. It’s not always easy to get to the bottom of things and even the accused bully has rights. And, amazingly—kids sometimes lie!
If I ever saw bullying of any sort, I would put a stop to it right away. On the other hand, some kids provoke things from their classmates and can be quite sly in making sure no adult ever sees what actually happened. Then, you have a he said/she said scenario that can be difficult to untangle. Kinda glad I’m not teaching anymore!
susie
40 years ago the *gay* kid would never have even attempted to do what this kid apparently was doing. In the first place, if the kid he was harassing didn’t whump him, the other kids would as soon as he said he was having sex with ANY boy.
susie
A move to Casa Pacifica
A makeshift memorial outside E.O. Green became a candlelight tribute to Larry. Stuffed teddy bears sit among wilting flowers. Messages attached to a flagpole promise to never forget him.
Larry impressed his friends as a kid who insisted on being himself, even if it meant being ridiculed. He was the guy who made them laugh, loved bugs and animals, and dished about the “Project Runway” TV show.
“He was really funny, and he could turn a bad situation upside down and make you happy,” Madison said. “He would do his best to cheer you up.”
At 5 feet 4 inches and 100 pounds, Larry was smaller than some of his peers. Family friend Phil Cohen said Larry “was a very positive kid.”
About four months before he was killed, however, Larry moved to Casa Pacifica, a residential facility near Camarillo for abused, neglected and emotionally troubled children. His father, Greg King, declined to discuss why, as have authorities, who cite confidentiality laws.
The autopsy showed no signs of previous injury or child abuse, according to the medical examiner.
Larry King holds a caterpillar in the palm of his hand while visiting the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., in December 2006.
Photo courtesy of Greg King
Larry King holds a caterpillar in the palm of his hand while visiting the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., in December 2006.
Order Photos
Larry lived in the 45-bed emergency shelter. Specialists assess and treat children before a judge decides whether to reunite them with their families or place them in foster or group homes. Casa bused Larry to E.O. Green for classes, as required by law.
It was then that Larry began to wear makeup and earrings, although more than a year ago he had begun attending meetings of a support group for gay, bisexual and transgender youth at the Ventura County Rainbow Alliance in Ventura.
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/feb/24/it-doesnt-make-sense/?printer=1/
The boy’s unconventional family life was also fodder for gossip around the lockers of E.O. Green. Even though both his parents reside in Oxnard, about an hour’s drive northwest of Los Angeles, King lived at Casa Pacifica, a group home for abused, neglected, and emotionally troubled children. The facility houses kids until they are returned to their families or taken in by foster parents. The average stay at Casa Pacifica, according to staff member Melissa Flavin, is 30 days. King lived there for over four months.
Except for a few short sentences from King’s father to the Los Angeles Times about their grief, the King family has refused to speak to the media, including The Advocate, about Larry’s death or his living situation. “His dad, his name is Greg King ... I think that’s his foster father who adopted him,” says David Keith, spokesman for the Oxnard Police Department. “I don’t know where [Larry’s] natural parents are or even if they’re in the picture.”
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_1005/ai_n25152711
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