Newsweek's Disturbing Cover Feature on Lawrence King

This morning's required reading is the brand new cover of Newsweek, Young, Gay and Murdered, a surely-to-be controversial examination of the life and death of portrayal of the late Lawrence King, the 15-year-old gay teen who was gunned down in February.

The magazine asks some of the same questions we have raised in recent weeks—"Kids are coming out younger, but are schools ready to handle the complex issues of identity and sexuality?"—and paints a disturbing and a times unsympathetic portrait of the flamboyant, biracial gay teen.

[CockroachSleeper]

once again:

buy yourself a gun, and start protecting yourselves. the cockroaches do not like you, and will kill you when given the chance.

christian = cockroach
cockroach = christian

[NH Baritone]

I'm a gay atheist, but I know that even though 80% of the US is Christian, 80% of the population is not murderers.

We need to differentiate between the fundamentalists (a minority of Christians) and the rest, in the same way we need to differentiate between the militant Islamists (a minority of Muslims) and the rest of the world's Muslims.

It is far from helpful to label all Christians murderous. We simply need to HELP them to contain their members who are likely to act out violently and remind them that their Messiah taught that "those who live by the sword will die by the sword."

[CockroachSleeper]

try that, didn't work. buy a gun and use it, does work.

christian = cockroach
cockroach = christian

NH Baritone wrote:

I'm a gay atheist, but I know that even though 80% of the US is Christian, 80% of the population is not murderers.
We need to differentiate between the fundamentalists (a minority of Christians) and the rest, in the same way we need to differentiate between the militant Islamists (a minority of Muslims) and the rest of the world's Muslims.
It is far from helpful to label all Christians murderous. We simply need to HELP them to contain their members who are likely to act out violently and remind them that their Messiah taught that "those who live by the sword will die by the sword."

[JaneKrahe]

Noah wrote:

H0mofascist hate groups like the HRC are tampering with young people and encouraging them into troubled lifestyle choices.
No one is "born" a homosexual. Human sexuality is not immutable. These hate groups teach anti-scientific lies to the contrary.
A young teen should not be encouraged to declare a pattern of sexuality, especially one which most people find repugnant.'
The HRC has blood on its hands, as to groups like GSA.

Call me old fashioned, but the only person here with blood on thier hands is the killer.

[CockroachSleeper]

here's a chance to change this country for the good. buy yourself a gun, and find this cockroach. this and other cockroaches do not like you, and will kill you when given the chance.

christian = cockroach
cockroach = christian

Noah wrote:

H0mofascist hate groups like the HRC are tampering with young people and encouraging them into troubled lifestyle choices.
No one is "born" a homosexual. Human sexuality is not immutable. These hate groups teach anti-scientific lies to the contrary.
A young teen should not be encouraged to declare a pattern of sexuality, especially one which most people find repugnant.'
The HRC has blood on its hands, as to groups like GSA.

[Monaural]

Interesting piece, but as I recall, almost everyone at that age was a pain in the butt on some level or another. The trick is not shooting them so that they can grow out of the "pain in the butt" phase.

Tragic situation all the way around. A gun should never have entered the equation, though.

[Jeff]

From what I can tell we had just two people read the article and the rest just ramble on in narcissistic grumblings. What kind of world are we living in where dialogue is next to impossible because people like Cock roach Sleeper sound maddenly juvenile really stupid and Noah doesn't even know what a fascist is nor understand a thing of what it means to be gay (and probably will continue to classify gays as "other"). Maybe it is that most people do not read. It reminds me of 5 year old who puts her fingers in her ears and says, "I'm not listening, nah nah, nah, nah, nah, nah."

The article brings to light Lawrence Kings troubled past. In fact it brings to light his antagonism and bullying and the lack of how to deal effectively with kids like him. Remembering what kids are like and the tensions of peer pressure he should never have been allowed to come to school in drag. This should have been addressed at his home and at school when he walked on the campus. Here is a kid now dead because he was looking for adults around him to help him with boundaries and how to live life.

The kid who murdered Lawrence was troubled as well coming from a problem home a sad story and a double whammy where both kids lives are ruined or extinguished But this all begs the question as to what to do with kids who are questioning their sexuality. And particularly those who are questioning their gender. So what would be a good course of action for gay/gender questioning kids in our schools today?

[Cpetr13]

The only ones with blood on their hands are those who attack others because of their own insecurities and fears.

Having been gay kid, I know that this was not a choice and no amount of "encouraging" in either direction would have changed a damned thing. You cling to these silly ideas because the truth--that being gay is not a choice--doesn't fit into your sad little worldview. But gays know differently.

Are you suggesting that kids should live a lie? Whatever happened to honesty and honor?

Noah wrote:

H0mofascist hate groups like the HRC are tampering with young people and encouraging them into troubled lifestyle choices.
No one is "born" a homosexual. Human sexuality is not immutable. These hate groups teach anti-scientific lies to the contrary.
A young teen should not be encouraged to declare a pattern of sexuality, especially one which most people find repugnant.'
The HRC has blood on its hands, as to groups like GSA.

[Cpetr13]

Calm down. The fact is that this twit doesn't have the guts to do anything more than hide behind a keyboard and complain because life isn't exactly t6he way he wants it to be.

Killing him isn't the answer; aside from the moral and legal problems, it would be tantamount to a mercy killing, and I see no reason to show him any mercy.

CockroachSleeper wrote:

here's a chance to change this country for the good. buy yourself a gun, and find this cockroach. this and other cockroaches do not like you, and will kill you when given the chance.
christian = cockroach
cockroach = christian
<quoted text>

[Cpetr13]

I am sick of the excuses. "Problem home" my ass. Every home has some kind of problem. The only real problems were that there was an unsecured gun in the house and that the parents did not do their job--to teach them that there are people who are different and that they can BE different. Whether the victim was in drag or was another race or faith or whatever isnt' the point. I refuse to blame the victim.

From the article, I can't say that the kid was gay; he may well have been transgendered. This doesn't even seem to be addressed. And I am interested in how he used his orientation "as a weapon"; as s shield, yes, but not s a weapon.

If he was indeed bullying the victim, the victim should have made a complaint.

Jeff wrote:

From what I can tell we had just two people read the article and the rest just ramble on in narcissistic grumblings. What kind of world are we living in where dialogue is next to impossible because people like Cock roach Sleeper sound maddenly juvenile really stupid and Noah doesn't even know what a fascist is nor understand a thing of what it means to be gay (and probably will continue to classify gays as "other"). Maybe it is that most people do not read. It reminds me of 5 year old who puts her fingers in her ears and says, "I'm not listening, nah nah, nah, nah, nah, nah."
The article brings to light Lawrence Kings troubled past. In fact it brings to light his antagonism and bullying and the lack of how to deal effectively with kids like him. Remembering what kids are like and the tensions of peer pressure he should never have been allowed to come to school in drag. This should have been addressed at his home and at school when he walked on the campus. Here is a kid now dead because he was looking for adults around him to help him with boundaries and how to live life.
The kid who murdered Lawrence was troubled as well coming from a problem home a sad story and a double whammy where both kids lives are ruined or extinguished But this all begs the question as to what to do with kids who are questioning their sexuality. And particularly those who are questioning their gender. So what would be a good course of action for gay/gender questioning kids in our schools today?

[Jaguar]

I have to say first, that I didn't read all of the story. I was starting to go crosseyed half way through it. What I did read, started sounding like just a big list of excuses. The bottom line is a boy took a gun to school and shot a fellow student to death. No excuses, no justification, no anything else, that's it, done deal. While the reasons matter to us, though both boy's behaivour and both boy's familey life could be pointed at and discussed for years, in the end, it's still a murder and the boy that pulled the trigger should face the consiquences of his actions.

[Judge Roy Bean]

why don't pope nazi war crimmal say something ....this goose stepping nut has his zealots on the brink of war ....they need to drink the jim jones kool-aid and see their furher as he is ....i was only following orders..so pope suck'em silly head of the church of the holy child molesters.....amen....law east of the pecos

[CockroachSleeper]

hahaha... that's so awesome... i love it. you make me laugh. you sooooo funny. LOL. i gonna you laughy, cause you make me giggle soooooo long.

Jaguar wrote:

I have to say first, that I didn't read all of the story. I was starting to go crosseyed half way through it. What I did read, started sounding like just a big list of excuses. The bottom line is a boy took a gun to school and shot a fellow student to death. No excuses, no justification, no anything else, that's it, done deal. While the reasons matter to us, though both boy's behaivour and both boy's familey life could be pointed at and discussed for years, in the end, it's still a murder and the boy that pulled the trigger should face the consiquences of his actions.

wait... the giggles are done now. if you don't take your birth seriously, then end of story. for me and my fellow human beings, we understand all to well that the cockroaches do not like you, and will kill you when given the chance. my humble opinion, buy yourself a gun.

christian = cockroach
cockroach = christian

[ChicagoJimmy]

Jeff wrote:

The article brings to light Lawrence Kings troubled past. In fact it brings to light his antagonism and bullying and the lack of how to deal effectively with kids like him. Remembering what kids are like and the tensions of peer pressure he should never have been allowed to come to school in drag. This should have been addressed at his home and at school when he walked on the campus. Here is a kid now dead because he was looking for adults around him to help him with boundaries and how to live life.

I gotta disagree with you. I was a gay kid and I got bullied for it. I didn't dress up in drag, didn't talk to anyone about my feelings, and didn't start a club or tell people I was gay. Somehow, everyone still knew I was different and bullied me anyway.

We don't need to tell kids like Lawrence to stay in the closet. We don't need more kids to feel ashamed, scared, and depressed because of negative stereotypes that exist in our culture. At the same time we need to educate the majority of kids better to accept those that are different.

[writewingproxyco ntin]

Can we please stop defaming cockroaches - a hardy species if ever there were one - by likening them to fundie bigot talibangelicals?

I thought that Newsweek article was shot through with a not so veiled 1970s era homophobia, but it's difficult to know about my reaction to it for sure since the article was so painful to read simply on the basis of content.

Finally, the issues are not so complicated: Students shouldn't get shot for being different, however troubled. By saying it's somehow more nuanced than that is disturbing.

[Cpetr13]

You;re right; the article could've been written by James Dobson. It comes as close at it can to blaming the victim without just coming out and saying "he deserved it." Not to mention making the shooter a victim. I stopped reading newsweek years ago.

writewingproxycontin wrote:

Can we please stop defaming cockroaches - a hardy species if ever there were one - by likening them to fundie bigot talibangelicals?
I thought that Newsweek article was shot through with a not so veiled 1970s era homophobia, but it's difficult to know about my reaction to it for sure since the article was so painful to read simply on the basis of content.
Finally, the issues are not so complicated: Students shouldn't get shot for being different, however troubled. By saying it's somehow more nuanced than that is disturbing.

[Jonathan]

I just think that Newsweek's story is completely outrageous! This is a story about the murder of a young teenager in which the media finds occasion to dissect every mistake that the victim made while barely touching upon the cruel act that was done to him. When was the last time we had such an insensitive report about a tragedy?

As for blame, it is mainly the school that is suspected in the murder. Where did the teachers and principles fail these boys? Was it neglect? The lack of communication? An unwillingness to address sexuality and violence? The lack of overall discipline? The lack of training in conflict resolution or tighter security measures? No! Not according to Newsweek. The school is guilty because it did not prevent Larry from wearing a certain type of clothing to school. Because once he did so, it was a natural outcome that he would be murdered. Everyone should have forseen that.

I especially feel sorry for Joy Epstein. It is shocking enough that the support she gave to Larry would be seen as inappropriate, but it is utterly maddening that people would actually suggest that she played some sort of "role in his death". If she weren't a lesbian, she would never have been under such suspicion.

The Newsweek editor is a hypocrite when he accuses Larry of using his "sexuality as a weapon". Isn't that what we ourselves are doing when we dehumanize people for not expressing their sexuality in the same way that we do. It's like blaming a woman for her own rape, just because she dressed a certain way, or blaming someone who acts out against injustice, for "causing a disturbance", rather than blaming the cause of the injustice itself.

This is a cowardly article. It is often the case with mainstream coverage of hate crimes that they attempt to consider both sides of the argument, in order to provide a "more balanced" viewpoint. But there is no balance between love and hate.

Newsweek might as well be FOX News!

How can this article claim to discuss the issue of coming out in middle school without ever touching on homophobia at all?? In fact, every other reason for the murder was given EXCEPT homophobia!

Sadly, Newsweek's cowardice will inspire a new generation of homophobes (it already has...just read through the comments page) and insure that Larry's tragedy continues to repeat itself.

P.S. My point is not to judge Brandon. It's the media who I'm judging here.