This was on the front of Newsweek

[Gerry]

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

Very sad story, which I'm sure many of you have already heard about...

[ScentedRegrets]

Very sad, indeed. Just when you think about how far we've come, you realize just how far we have yet to go.

[Miaplacidus]

[Alex]

That is so sad
How can someone so young think of killing a person, how did he even get a gun in the first place?
Its just wrong

[Wander]

Yes, it certainly was wrong of him to shoot King and kill him, but look at it from the other side. King was being very, VERY flirtatious with people he knew it bothered. He used his sexuality as a weapon to taunt his classmates, then used it as a defense when they tried to push back. He shouldn't have died for it, but he took it a little beyond just "expressing himself".

[xxAngelOnFirexx]

aw! thats defiantly so sad!

[musicXowl]

thats really sad =(

Its uber sad... when did this take place

[Jim1454]

Originally Posted by Wander

Yes, it certainly was wrong of him to shoot King and kill him, but look at it from the other side. King was being very, VERY flirtatious with people he knew it bothered. He used his sexuality as a weapon to taunt his classmates, then used it as a defense when they tried to push back. He shouldn't have died for it, but he took it a little beyond just "expressing himself".

Yes - that was a well written article - covering both sides of the issue.

[xballetxbeautyx]

Deep in the audience, an eighth grader turned to one of Brandon's friends and whispered, "That's so gay."

I can't think of anything else to say on that subject.

"Brandon was being terrorized," says Bill, who has set up a public defense fund in his son's name. "He was being stalked almost, to the degree of the school should have never let this happen."

What the ? STALKED? From what I hear in this article, it wasn't stalking. It sounded like Larry had some problems- I admit that freely- and people were picking on him, so he pushed back. I never saw anything that sounded like stalking. And even if he was, that's no reason to pull a gun on him!

This makes me so mad. It doesn't matter what Larry did or how uncomfortable or annoyed he made Brandon feel, you don't shoot people!

[acorn7]

That story is really tragic, but I'm glad the article explores both sides of the question. This I find ridiculous:

Hundreds of his classmates have signed a petition asking that he be tried in juvenile court. The district attorney wants him tried as an adult, which could result in a prison sentence of 51 years to life.

What the HELL? Don't get me wrong, there is no excuse for what he did, but why is the point to *punish* him? They should focus on rehabilitating and helping the kid. If he's messed up enough to murder a classmate, he clearly needs help.

[Malchik89]

Yeah this is horrible that it had to happen, but i mean Larry was messing with a kids who was very disturbed, and who's historical hero was Hitler. it is extremely sad that you cant truly express yourself without it being seen as something of an obscenity. It just goes along with the whole norm of society is to not be yourself, but to be "normal". The saddest thing is, is that someone like Larry King, who was just so completely lost in who he was, never got a chance to truly find himself.

[boarder25]

I remember this all too well. This school is not far from me. Maybe 15 miles. It was a big deal here.

[Poring]

oh my.. What a life.. wasted. The guy was only 15. Really sad

[Jebs]

Originally Posted by acorn7

That story is really tragic, but I'm glad the article explores both sides of the question. This I find ridiculous:

What the HELL? Don't get me wrong, there is no excuse for what he did, but why is the point to *punish* him? They should focus on rehabilitating and helping the kid. If he's messed up enough to murder a classmate, he clearly needs help.

No. He deserves to be shot in the head. Twice.

[pirateninja]

No matter how flirtatious somebody is to somebody else, killing them is NEVER acceptable.

If the atmosphere in schools was more accepting of gay people, Larry wouldn't have been picked on, he wouldn't have used his sexuality as a weapon, this whole situation could have been averted. That's all I have to say on the matter.

[LetThereBeLight]

Well before he turns into a gay idol, and a reason for gay rights, we have to look at the kid who shot him.


We all know what it means to be gay. Okay. But Larry disrespected a kid's own privacy - the same thing Larry obviously fought for himself. It was a double-standard on Larry's behalf and could have been avoided if he wasn't throwing it in everyone's face.


If someone who likes rap, went to a redneck school, and just pushed the topic of rap in everyone's face is that seriously going to go down well?


The fact he was gay was one thing, the fact he made it such a big deal that his life was centered around it was the problem. It shouldn't have been that way. Yeah, he certainly could have identified as gay, and worn whatever he wanted, but if Larry was all about self-expression and being able to live freely without having to be afraid of slurs, than making the school his runway was a horrible idea.

The kid obviously had problems, and I would not want him to represent me, or my sexuality. He didn't die for being gay, he died because he interfered with someone's sexuality and the fact that we ask for acceptance and Larry blatantly disregarded someone's own morals really gives us this end result: Some one got shot over something completely avoidable.


Brandon had problems too. He should have gone to a counselor, without a doubt.


This was all a HUGE mistake.

Originally Posted by acorn7

That story is really tragic, but I'm glad the article explores both sides of the question. This I find ridiculous:

What the HELL? Don't get me wrong, there is no excuse for what he did, but why is the point to *punish* him? They should focus on rehabilitating and helping the kid. If he's messed up enough to murder a classmate, he clearly needs help.

I agree 100%