Lawrence King: Who is to Blame?
That is the question asked in the upcoming issue of The Advocate. See if the conclusions they arrived at are as astonishing to you as they were to me.
Elson, who says King didn’t mention being bullied at school to foster-care professionals, pointed out that each LGBT child at Casa Pacifica is given a “Know Your Rights Guide” provided by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a legal advocacy group. “Queer and Trans Youth in California Foster Care Have Rights!” declares the pamphlet’s cover. Inside is a description of the state’s Foster Care Nondiscrimination Act, along with a list of entitlements for queer children like safe bathrooms and dating. Included on the list—below an illustration of a teenager in overalls and high heels—is the right for kids to wear clothes and hairstyles that fit their gender identity. King clearly took that freedom to heart in the last weeks of his life.
As wonderful as this encouragement sounds, did it put Larry in harm’s way by sending him out in a world not ready for him? It may be beyond the capacity of kids to reconcile a tolerant atmosphere like Casa Pacifica with the xenophobic, conformist nature of school. Children like Brandon McInerney are products of their society, one that simply does not know what to do with a boy in heels.
The Advocate, ostensibly a magazine that supports GLBT rights, is actually proposing the notion that the bigot who shot this boy was an innocent product of his society, and the organizations that encouraged Lawrence King to express his true self were at fault for his death? What alternative universe is this? Has the magazine been taken over by Gary George?
But did the pamphlet, however inadvertently, cause Larry harm? Marksamer bridles at that suggestion. “I think it’s really important that we don’t get caught up in the idea that either Larry or the group home or somebody could have prevented this by telling Larry he shouldn’t have been himself. That is not an approach that’s good for anybody, because you can’t just protect somebody by telling them not to express themselves, because people will know who they are even if—” He trails off, then resumes, “How could he ever think somebody would kill him for expressing his rights? That goes beyond any reasonable expectation. Maybe he could have expected to be called names or to be laughed at. But he also should have expected the school would have done something about that.”
Amen to that. It’s deplorable that anybody should suggest someone hide who and what they are in order to prevent becoming the victim of a hate-crime. Worse yet, it is obvious that one doesn’t even need to be openly gay or gay at all to be the victim of homophobia. That’s why it’s critical that homophobia be eradicated for the good of all.
Unlike Casa Pacifica, E.O. Green provides no literature about or for LGBT students. The Hueneme School District, of which E.O. Green is a part, has a program called the Second Step violence prevention education program, which lasts until sixth grade. Both King and his killer took part in this program, says Hueneme School District superintendent Jerry Dannenberg. As part of the program, kids have weekly classes that attempt to teach empathy and emotion management. Robin Freeman, assistant superintendent of education services, was hard-pressed to come up with any examples of tolerance training for her seventh- and eighth-graders. She brought up the substance-abuse prevention program Project Alert, saying it helped with decision-making skills.
“Part of the role of a school is to teach young people how to function in a democracy,” says Kevin Jennings, a former teacher and the founder and executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, a national organization working to ensure safe schools for LGBT students. “In a democracy we protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority. Where are they going to get that lesson? They’ve got to learn it in school.”
But they don’t. At least not in the way they did before the No Child Left Behind Act was enacted by Congress in 2002 at the Bush administration’s urging.
“There’s been a real retrenchment of antibullying and diversity programs since No Child Left Behind,” says Jennings. “What that’s done is establish standardized testing as the only measure of good schools. In the late ’90s there was a lot of momentum around multiculturalism and diversity. That was really reversed by this imposition of standardized testing. A lot of educators are frustrated because they understand the importance of addressing some of these larger [social] efforts, but when they try to they’re told, ‘You’ve just got to get the math scores up.’ ”
I’m not surprised there. The quality of everything in schools has suffered since NCLB was implemented. But with regard to homophobic bullying, the rise is no doubt also fueled by the rise in the RRRW “moral values” crowd which has held so much power under the Bush Administration. They’ve pushed their version of morality, which has a hefty dose of anti-gay hatred, and it has definitely infected America’s schools–much to the detriment of LGBT students.
Brandon McInerney was E.O. Green’s alpha male: tall, good-looking, popular, smart. But like King’s, McInerney’s family life was far from stable. In fact, court records show a history of violence that lasted most—if not all—of McInerney’s life. Stories of abuse, shootings, drug addiction, and even a car chase fill the McInerney family history, reported the Ventura County Star newspaper.
…..
In many ways the killer and his victim were a study in duality. McInerney was hypermasculine while King was proudly effeminate. While King enjoyed an environment of understanding and stability at Casa Pacifica, McInerney’s world outside of school remained volatile. But at school the roles reversed: McInerney was imbued with authority and respect because of his good looks and athleticism, while King was different and an outcast, subjected to ridicule, scorn, and violence.
…..
Even though he was harassed at school, King was bold. Surrounded by queer kids at the Rainbow Coalition and understanding adults at Casa Pacifica, King felt free to share his desires with a world not ready to hear them. It wasn’t just his gender identity that King expressed. When he developed a crush on McInerney, King took action in his typical brazen manner—he let people know, including McInerney.
“Brandon would talk about it [and say] ‘He’s a faggot,’ ” says a student who chose to remain anonymous. McInerney became the butt of jokes after word of King’s crush got around, and according to students, he made his displeasure clear to King, with one report suggesting McInerney told King to “fuck off” after he caught King staring at him. Students mocked King for his crush, and according to student Weber-Hernandez, principal Joel Lovstedt sought Larry out to ask if he was OK. The teen said he could handle it.
“I asked the principal for an emergency assembly and he said no,” says Weber-Hernandez, adding that the principal cited King’s insistence on being fine as the reason. Lovstedt couldn’t be reached for a response, but his boss, superintendent Dannenberg, says, “I haven’t heard about that.” Nevertheless, Weber-Hernandez seems certain: “The day after he died I said, ‘Maybe if we had that emergency assembly, this wouldn’t have happened.’ ”
Maybe, maybe not. I think it would have taken more than an emergency assembly but I could be wrong. We’ll never know though.
It’s a striking fact that the society now prosecuting Brandon McInerney as an adult is the same one that failed both him and Lawrence King as children. And whatever is decided at the trial, one thing is likely to become evident: McInerney wasn’t the only one who pulled the trigger on February 12—he was joined in his crime by anyone who teaches violence as a solution to conflict, school curricula that weigh grades over education, and a culture where just being different can be deadly.
Indeed. It’s a society that continues to teach that LGBT people are of lower value than others because they offend the chosen religious bigotries of others. That they deserve to be denigrated and abused for who and what they are. Until that changes we will continue to have victims like Lawrence King.
