This is a link to a short video discussing a law suit that has arisen as the result of the murder of a gay/trans teen here in California. I think it is worth a watch and comment. The presenter uses some 'legal talk' so it isn't always easy to understand what she's saying but the bottom line is the school (and other affiliated organizations) are being sued by the deceased boy's family for NOT having discouraged his openly gay/trans behavior.

VIDEO HERE

Discuss!

i think trev told me bout that case a while ago. personally, i think its a very complicated topic

i mean, the skool shudnt be at fault 4 this. skools hav no right 2 tell a gay kid 2 tone it down at all in general, but at the same time, i can c where the parents r coming from.

its a tricky situation

Really Mr. Cop?
Where's the burden of proof that the school or the gay group were complicit in anything? The criminal trial has shown that the school actually did call for Lawrence to "tone it down". As for the gay group, they most certainly can't be held to account.
Frankly, it looks painfully like the parents are flailing around, looking for someone to blame. I say look in the mirror; he was YOUR child parents, so that means the burden is on YOU to raise your kid, not the school, not the shelter, and not the gay group. Its ludicrous that the parents are blaming other people and trying to sue other people for their own lack of leadership on the issue, and should be thrown out of court as such.

whoevers fault it is, the truth is, even though its unfair 4 the kid 2 hav bin told 2 tone down, it realistically wuda helped against the harassment. so many gay kids get teased bcuz of how flamboyant they r, not just bcuz theyre gay. i hate 2 say it but honestly, the kid was targeted cuz he was so flamboyant, & if he had bin a bit more careful w/ it, hed probly still be alive

While I do agree with you that flamboyant persons, regardless of their actual sexual orientation, are targetted for bullying and abuse, I don't think that can be used as a justification by saying that if he wasn't as flamboyant, he wouldn't have been murdered. The victim and the accused were well known to each other, and this wasn't a random thing; Lawrence had actually asked out the accused on a prior occassion, so even if he wasn't effeminate about it, the accused already knew about Lawrence's sexual orientation.

I am not a person who likes to flaunt his sexuality. While I am in no way ashamed of who I am, I see no benefit in pandering to stereotypes about sexualities, or behaving in a provocative manner just because you can. At the same time, I recognise that some people really are just camp, and that their behaviour is neither a statement nor a choice, any more than their sexual orientation. It is a tragic fact that there are those who behave in a gay way to define their identity, but this occurs for all the same reasons that any teen behaves in an exaggerated or stereotypical manner - to explore and define their identity and to state their alliance with part of a social group. It just so happens that genderqueer (by that I mean acting in a way not normally associated with your gender) groups are reviled beside and beyond so-called straight-acting gays.

That people act in these ways is sad, but not only is the adoption of stereotypical behaviours a completely normal and natural phase, it is also beneficial for some people when trying to find out 'who they are'. It is the fault of the restrictive and sick society in which we live that certain lifestyles are reviled, and it is IN NO WAY the fault of this boy, his friends, his school or his gay organisation that acting gay got him killed. IT IS THE FAULT OF HIS FAMILY WHO KICKED HIM OUT OF HIS FUCKING HOUSE, AND THE GUY WHO FUCKING SHOT HIM.

It makes me so fucking angry that these people even exist in the world, both the killer and the parents, and I have to say it shocks me that you would say you can see the reason in the family's position here Kell.

Interesting to see what you guys are saying about this. I'm not sure I have an opinion much different from the one expressed by Alex. The thing I am aware of is that even though I'm gay, I, too, have my prejudices. That doesn't mean I'm proud of them or don't try and mediate them (meaning, by being aware that I have them, work to not be run by them).

I have been following this story somewhat in the news, and it never ceases to disturb or amaze me!

@K - I understand where you are coming from, only because I once too came from there. I am what many ppl call a "straight acting" gay. I do not try to "act straight" and in fact could not do so on demand if requested. That said I have a lot of interest and hobbies that many consider "straight acting" (cars, computers, sports, etc). I also suck at dressing myself and could not decorate to save my life. I dont shop- scot does so not because I cant but because I do so begrudgingly! Were it not for his style, his art, and his shopping I wold look quiet the part of the frat boy with a bachelor pad!

That said kell I have to ask you the same things asked of me when I had your ways of thinking when I was younger. Do you hold a woman responsible for her own rape because she is beautiful and dresses to accentuate it? Do you hold a black man complicit in his own beating because he dared to be a black man out after dark and express his free right as a citizen to be in public? While you may say that these people could have avoided their deaths by hiding them selves, or aborgading their free rights you have to ask your self- what kind of country would we be if that is what we expected of others? Is that the kind of society you would like to live in? One where people do not do things because being who they are or expressing their rights may harm them? If so then the good ole USA, UK, or many of the modern nations would not exist!

I do not know about you but I prefer to live in a nation, a society, a world where we encourage ppl to live out, to be who they are, to demand their rights (& ours too!) and will not cower from evil.

Remember evil exist when good men do nothing....

One thing I have had to keep in mind is that the same rights, the same freedoms that we want King to have had and to have enjoyed are the same ones that let his parents sue now in this crazy form of logic. I can only hope the ppl and judges see through this and throw it all out. That said I defend their right to think the way they do and sue for it- but hope to hell they loose! While it makes me angry to know there are people out there that think this way I grit my teeth and defend it- because in doing so I defend my right to call them stupid fucking morons!

@painter - wow... good topic... thanks!

i never sed i saw the reason in wat the parents r doing. i simply sed i c wat they mean that, bcuz he flaunted his sexuality, thats y he was targeted. i dont like how theyre attacking the skool & the GLBT community. its not their fault at all. the parents r simply hurting & they feel they need sum1 other than themselves 2 blame. i dont agree w/ whoever sed theyre only attacking the skool & glbt 2 get attention. no1 craves publicity after their child is murdered. sure they might want attention drawn 2 the issue, but not in a sense that they just want their 15 mins of fame

gays who either flaunt their sexuality or r more publicly open w/ it r targeted more often than the 1's who dont. its a simple fact. it sucks, i know, but its true. the REASON the kid was attacked was bcuz he flaunted his orientation & THATS y the parents r blaming others, bcuz they feel the skool & glbt shuda told him 2 tone it down. it sucks that we live in a society like that & it seriously needs 2 change. its a sick truth, but its still the truth.


2 answer those other questions. again, i dont blame the women 4 being raped. but 2 sum extent, its realistic her chances of being raped wud go down if she stayed home or didnt dress beautifully. dus the black man hafta go outside at all? no. if he stayed in, wud the chances of him being beaten go down? yes.



dus that mean i support ppl toning down their sexuality, not dressing nicely & staying home? absolutely not.

Kell, you know I disagree with your last statements. There's absolutely no reason whatsoever that people should avoid doing certain things simply to avoid becoming a target for abuse. This is North America, the place where people come to be free.
I submit to you that there is no freedom if actions are curtailed by certain groups so that they can "be safer" and "not be targetted". That's not freedom, that's just a new reason to be shackled to a standard that shouldn't be imposed on anyone. By saying that gays shouldn't act flamboyant or women shouldn't dress attractively or that black people should not go outside after a certain hour is madness, and is absolutely curtailing the freedoms of those groups. Doesn't matter if its to "protect their safety", its still taking away freedoms and curtailing the ability of others to express themselves, and I'll have no part in it.

What's more, we have no way of saying how much this guy was 'flaunting' his sexuality. The only word we have to go on about htis is the family's and I'm not trusting them one little bit. For all we know, it could have been them throwing him out of their house that outed him to the community at large, which would have led to his being killed. Certainly he probably wouldn't have been living in an LGBT-run youth shelter if they had accepted him for what he was.
The fact that he acted in a feminine manner - from what I understood he was a boy with the gender-orientation of a girl - should not be even slightly considered as a mitigating factor in his murder, because in saying that he could have prevented his attack by being less gay acting is tantamount to saying that he is partly responsible for his own murder, and that the murderer is somehow just a little justified in his actions. And I can NEVER agree with that. There are transgendered youth out there who kill themselves because they feel so alienated within their own bodies and their own actions. If the alternative to hating yourself is being hated by others, I would have no compunction in choosing to be hated, and I don't think that we should blame him for making that choice.

i know that. im not saying that they shudnt express themselves. they shud. we all shud. we all deserve that freedom at the least. im just sayin that a lota times, since many ppl DO express themselves, thats y theyre targeted. i think all gay ppl shud act the way they feel comfortable. all women shud dress how they want & blak ppl can go out wenever the feel like it.

but sum sickos feel that since sum ppl DO express themselves in a way that they themselves dont like, then its ok 2 hurt them.

Kell, I think I get where ur coming from better now. Ur right the sad reality is that to truly be safe ppl would have to curtail themselves & as you said that is not right or acceptable. It is a sad state of affairs that this is the world we live in, but I also I think it is good. I know that sounds crazy but think about it our freedoms and rights hold so much value to us b/c they are so "expensive" for us to have. By risking our safety or even our lives to express, live, and be happy with who we are makes the right to do so very valuable and something we cherish. We only value and protect things that cost us so much to attain and keep.

So, I agree with you kell, it is the way it is and the parents are looking to blame someone else. PRobably to escape their own self loathing over their actions- an issue they and their maker will have to work out. But I for one am proud of King & see him as a martyr. His refusal to be someone he was not, his determination to live free, happy and proud sets an example that I can only hope I have the courage to live up to in the face of adversity and fear.

-JLK

And like I said, that's unacceptable in any society, and should indeed bring down harsher penalties than if there was no overt motivation for the attacks