Activists Alarmed, Demand Better Protection for Gay Youth

by Rhonda J Mangus | March 31, 2008 at 11:20 pm | 530 views | 12 comments

Like the killings of some other gay students - such as Matthew Shepard in Wyoming, and Brandon Teena, the Nebraska transsexual whose story was the subject of the movie "Boys Don't Cry" - King's death has drawn national attention and outraged many gays.

Risling's article centers around the brutal murder of Lawrence King, an 8th grade student at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, CA on February 12, 2008. Lawrence was shot, twice in the head, by a 14 year old fellow classmate in a Science Lab for the reason of his sexual orientation/gender expression.

Risling did an excellent job of coverage on the brutal killing of this child in an educational institution which is required by law to protect not only Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth from violence, but ALL Youth. Unfortunately, and all too often, it is the case that "school officials" are ignoring the violence against this particular group of children and with clearly tragic results.

On a personal level, NowPublic Members/Contributors who have viewed the articles I have either created or highlighted are aware that I am parent to a gay male youth who has suffered at the hands of school violence. Consequently, my heart does also grieve for the senseless loss of Lawrence's life. My only consolation is that I know, with certainty, that the actions I have taken on behalf of my son in response to "school officials" (among others) who failed to adequately address the violence occurring against Michael may very well have prevented a similar occurrence.

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Jarrett Martineau

at 23:30 on March 31st, 2008

Hi Rhonda, thanks for this post. It seems there is more to this story than what you've excerpted in the highlighted paragraph. Could you offer some further clarification - and provide your own perspective on this story? Thanks!

Rhonda J Mangus

at 02:46 on April 1st, 2008

Hi Jarrett - there certainly is much more to this story written by Greg Risling, The Associated Press, titled "Gay student's slaying sparks outrage" and I want to thank you for asking me to provide further clarification and perspective.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 02:45 on April 1st, 2008

Jarrett - I moved my response from "Add Comment" to the body of the article. Thanks again!

Jarrett Martineau

at 02:58 on April 1st, 2008

good stuff:

Rhonda J Mangus, thanks for sharing your perspective on this important story. Good stuff.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 03:04 on April 1st, 2008

Jarrett - thanks for the Flag! You are also very welcome!

gerrypopplestone

at 07:54 on April 1st, 2008

Thanks for flagging this incident. A lot of people seem to think it isnt serious if it is gay-related! Gay hate crimes often dont get the coverage they need. So thanks again.

Gerrypops

Rhonda J Mangus

at 13:20 on April 1st, 2008

Gerrypops - you are very welcome!

Statistics are put together by the F.B.I. yearly. The F.B.I. collects crime data from Law Enforcement Agencies all over the country. The data is then compiled into reports and separated by offenses called "Uniform Crime Reports" (UCR's). UCR's for 2006 indicate that there were 1,415 hate crime incidents against gays; 62.3 percent were against male homosexual biased, 20.7 percent against homosexual biased, 13.6 percent against female homosexual biased, 2.0 percent against heterosexual biased, and 1.5 percent against bi-sexual biased (cf. www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm).

What percentage of these Hate Crimes received media attention is unknown to me. I would agree with you however, that the majority of Hate Crimes are not receiving the media attention they deserve and, clearly, Hate Crimes Against Gays is a very serious issue that can no longer be hidden.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 13:26 on April 1st, 2008

Hi Rob Walker, Vinny, and birdfly1 - I received emails from NowPublic that each of you updated this article. However, it appears that your updates have been lost in transmission. Please feel free to resubmit your updates.

Thanks!

Swan

at 13:30 on April 1st, 2008

good stuff:

Hello Rhonda,

This is an important topic to bring to light and I'm happy that you added your own perspective to the story. This is what makes NP reporters so diverse from other newspapers!
~ Swan

Rhonda J Mangus

at 13:51 on April 1st, 2008

Hi Swan - DIVERSITY is GOOD and thank you for the Flag! I can't take all of the credit on my perspective however, Jarrett certainly contributed to the facilitating of it, for which I am thankful!

Thanks again!