GSA Monday: Tough Questions About The Lawrence King Murder Trial

Here's what you need to know to get caught up:

In February of 2008, 15 year old Larry (Lawrence) King was an 8th grader who had come out as gay earlier that year.

He told a classmate that he had a crush on him.

That classmate brought a gun to their Oxnard, California middle school the next day and shot Larry in the head.

Larry died later that week.

The trial of Larry's killer recently ended in a mistrial, because the jury couldn't agree on the degree of guilt. And now just this past week, it was announced that to avoid a second trial, a plea bargain has been struck, where Larry's killer will be in jail for 21 years.

And I think this raises a lot of hard questions:

1.  The defense didn't dispute that their at-the-time-14-year-old client was the shooter, but said that he reached an "emotional breaking point after King made repeated, unwanted sexual advances."  He was "sexually harassed" by King.  Is this blaming the victim?

2.  Does it make sense to try a 14-year-old as an adult?  Or is killing someone on purpose an adult crime no matter how old you are?

3.  Hate crimes laws increases penalties, so the jury couldn't agree on calling this a hate crime.  Lawyers had been discussing re-trying the case without the hate crime charges, thinking it would be easier to get a conviction.  What does this case say about hate crime laws?

4. What's the worst thing that could have happened to the boy Larry liked after Larry expressed interest in him? Maybe that other kids would have thought he was gay, too. He could have just said, no thanks, I'm not interested. But what does it say about our culture when the response of a boy to another boy's expressing interest in him is murder?

5.  Does it make a difference knowing that the guy who killed Larry had suffered abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual) at home?

6. Is the plea bargain deal the right decision for everyone involved? 

7.  What would be justice in this case?

Lisa Bloom, a lawyer and legal analyst is quoted in the Advocate's "System Failure" article on the mistrial by Neal Broverman (print issue, November 2011, pg. 13) as saying:

"This case was a heartbreaking intersection of our policy failures, ...our lack of effort to keep guns out of the hands of angry teenagers, our failure to intervene to protect abused kids, our refusal to adequately teach tolerance and respect for LGBT kids in schools, our culture's relentless message to boys that violence is a satisfying resolution to their problems, and our willingness to then put all the blame on a child by trying him as an adult."

Hard questions. But they're easier to tackle in a safe environment, and hopefully you can discuss them with your GSA. Or, leave a comment here in our virtual Gay-Straight Alliance.

Namaste,
Lee

Two Gay Teens MURDERED in the last week: Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado & Jason Mattison Jr. We have to STOP this anti-gay violence!

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, left, and Jason Mattison Jr.

Jorge was murdered in Puerto Rico. He was 19. He wanted to be a fashion designer. He was well known in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and "very loved."

"The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that 'people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen.' As If the boy murdered (Jorge Steven Lopez) was asking to get killed."

Jason was murdered in Baltimore. He was 15. A Sophmore in High School. He was out, gay, popular, and flamboyant.

Their murders were violent, horrible, nightmare-inducing.

We have the Matthew Shepherd and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act as the Law of this country, and yet this homophobic violence has not stopped.

There's been talk of how these murders haven't gotten the type of national media attention Matthew Shepherd's murder did - and discussion about whether that's because the victims this time round were Latino and Black.

But the blood of all these murdered gay teens is the same color. As is yours. As is mine.

"WE MUST FUNNEL OUR SADNESS INTO AN OUTPOURING OF RIGHTEOUS OUTRAGE."

That quote is from an e-mail calling for vigils around the country to stand up and say NO MORE!

There are a number of candlelight vigils happening this Sunday Nov 22.

In Oakland

In Los Angeles

In New York City

In Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

But even if you can't attend one, light a candle in your heart. Kindle the fire of your commitment to CHANGE our world. To make it a safer place to grow up, and BE yourself. To be Gay.

We need the anti-gay murders to STOP.

No more!

Shout it with me:

NO MORE!

Now let's go out and change this world of ours!

And remember,

Our Love is stronger than their hate.

My thanks to Mayra Lazara Dole who gave me the heads-up, and Andy Towle at Towleroad who got the word out about this.

President Obama ACTS! The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act is LAW!!!

He did it!

Here's the transcript of a portion of President Obama's remarks from the signing ceremony on Wednesday:

After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are. (Applause.)

I promised Judy Shepard, when she saw me in the Oval Office, that this day would come, and I'm glad that she and her husband Dennis could join us for this event. I'm also honored to have the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who fought so hard for this legislation. And Vicki and Patrick, Kara, everybody who's here, I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help this day -- make this day possible. So -- and thank you for joining us here today. (Applause.)

So, with that, I'm going to sign this piece of legislation. Thank you all for doing a great job. All right.

(The Act is signed.) (Applause.)

As Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign said in their email blast about this,

This is the first time ANY federal equality measure protecting LGBT rights has become law. The very first time. And it is the first federal law to explicitly protect transgender people. It is a touchstone in our movement, a triumph of what is right. And I truly feel things will never be the same.

Joe goes on to say that:

It took twelve years, over one million emails, faxes and phone calls to Congress, and 14 separate votes on the floors of the House and the Senate to turn the hate crimes bill into law.

It took too many innocent people dying.

And it took so many people standing up for what is right - even when it was hard, or there was a cost to it.

We now have a Law that explicitly says that targeting Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender People is WRONG. A Law that proclaims that we, members of the Gay community, are legally protected.

I do think that all crime is a form of hate crime. But having the Law of this land state unequivocally that GLBTQ people are to be protected is huge.

Here's a quote from the text of the new Law:

A prominent characteristic of a violent crime motivated by bias is that it devastates not just the actual victim and the family and friends of the victim, but frequently savages the community sharing the traits that caused the victim to be selected.

And that's true.

This Law changes the MYTH of what's okay in our society. It's no longer "okay" to gay-bash.

And that is huge.

The world is changing. We finally have some solid ACTION, some results, from electing President Obama.

And we have Halloween weekend to celebrate.

And then, Monday morning, let's stand up and keep fighting for not just our equality, but for what we teach our kids that America is all about:

Equality for all. Liberty and justice for all.

I can see the future. And it's getting better.

Namaste, and Happy Halloween!

Lee

Here's the full text of the new Law on the Library Of Congress website.