Just days after a 22 year-old Syracuse woman was murdered because she was gay, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee asserted on The View today that gay civil rights should not be taken seriously because "[b]lacks were stoned, hung, and dragged for their constitutional right to ’sit at the table.’ Whites — gay or not — already had a seat at that table.”

Where to begin? A police report out today says 22 year-old Moses "Teish" Cannon was shot outside a party in Syracuse, NY last Friday because she was a lesbian.

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Brandon McInerney's trial took a frightening turn yesterday as the district attorney's office revealed the 14-year old, who's accused of shooting gay classmate Lawrence King, had a stash of white supremacists materials.

The package included doodles of swastikas and drawings depicting the "racist skinhead philosophy of the variety espoused by Tom Metzger," the founder of the White Aryan Resistance.

Balking at the introduction of such materials, McInrerney's defense attorney William Quest dismissed the move as a "stunt" aimed at turning opinion against their client. The teen couldn't possibly be filled with such hate, he said, because he has brown friends: "There is no evidence Brandon was ever in a gang, no evidence he had any gang tattoos. His best friends at school were black and Hispanic… This is a stretch by the prosecution." Is it?

Brandon McInerney's defense team's busy laying the groundwork for their client's potential murder trial.

McInerney, you'll recall, stands accused of shooting 15-year old Lawrence King to death last February. His lawyers yesterday won access to King's personal records, which they hope will shed light on the "context" of the killing, which many say was motivated by King's crush on McInerney.

The records in question are expected to disclose information on King's behavior during the time he was living at Casa Pacifica, a center for troubled and abused children located near Camarillo, and attending Green School.

[Attorney William Quest] told the judge that he wanted unedited records, including the names of students, so he can talk "to other people," including students, about the case.
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"As I said before, Brandon is not a sociopath. This is not some crazy kid," the attorney said, adding that this shooting was unlike others that have occurred in schools across the nation.

Quest said there was "a lot of stuff going on" before the shooting.

"There were warnings of trouble," he said. "What I am trying to establish, given the mandatory harsh sentencing that goes with trying a 14-year-old as an adult, is explaining what was going on. How this tragedy happened, not trying to minimize it or take anything away from the tragedy. But at least, provide it in the context which we think would provide a partial defense on behalf of Brandon."

Let's hope this doesn't turn into a "blame the victim" side show…

Slain gay teen Lawrence King's parents are making it hard to be sympathetic.

The family filed a lawsuit last week against the 15-year old's school district for "failing to enforce a dress code, which allegedly spurred Brandon McInerney to shoot King in the head last February:

The parents and brother of 15-year-old Larry King filed a personal injury claim against the Hueneme school district seeking unspecified damages.
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The claim, filed last week in Ventura County Superior Court, says administrators and teachers failed to enforce the school's dress code when King wore feminine clothing and makeup to school.

At the time of his death, King lived in a nearby youth shelter. He had been removed from his parents' home six months before, but no details have been released on what exactly went down. It seems to us the parents may not be angels in all of this.

Besides, is there a dress code saying boys can't wear makeup?

Things just got worse for Brandon McInerney, the fourteen year old who allegedly shot Lawrence King earlier this year. McInerney reportedly shot his schoolmate after King gave him a valentine.

Now, despite action from all sides of the debate - including gay activists - a judge decided to try McInerney as an adult:

Relying on past court decisions, a judge ruled Thursday that trying a 14-year-old boy accused of murder in an adult court does not violate the constitution, swatting down legal arguments raised by the boy's attorney that it was cruel and unusual punishment to do so.

"I cannot say that this is unconstitutional," said Ventura County Superior Court Judge Douglas Daily.

Though things look bad for McInerney, the teen's lawyer also cited other cases in which juveniles convicted in adult court successfully lobbied for lighter sentences.

Regardless of the ultimate outcome, this shit's mad messed up. We have a dead boy and another who's life might as well be over. This is a perfect example of a homophobic culture's horrific repercussions…

Fifteen-year old Lawrence King's murder last February at school shocked the nation. It also pointed to timely, troubling questions: Newsweek's current cover story highlights some lingering, troubling questions:

What you might call "the shrinking closet" is arguably a major factor in Larry's death. Even as homosexuality has become more accepted, the prospect of being openly gay in middle school raises a troubling set of issues. Kids may want to express who they are, but they are playing grown-up without fully knowing what that means. At the same time, teachers and parents are often uncomfortable dealing with sexual issues in children so young. Schools are caught in between. How do you protect legitimate, personal expression while preventing inappropriate, sometimes harmful, behavior?

Very carefully?!

The ongoing drama surrounding Lawrence King's February murder took another twist yesterday.

California Judge postponed the arraignment of 14-year old Brandon McInerney, who's accused of shooting fifteen year old King, who had a crush on the boy. The arraignment was meant to take place yesterday, but will now occur on June 12.

In the meantime, journalist Karen Ocamb had a chat with District Attorney Maeve Fox, who discussed the limited possibility of a plea bargain, why McInerney represents a very adult threat and, yes, took on the defense team's claim that the school is to blame for King's murder…

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Who's to blame for Lawrence King's death? That question has been rattling around for a while and will probably never get a clear answer.

Some say that the 15-year old homo deserved to be shot in the head - because, you know, we gays need to control ourselves. Others blame the shooter, 14-year old Brandon McInerney. A few blame society at large, while others prefer to pin the blame on that old fall back, God.

McInerney's lawyer, as we've previously reported, has a more precise target: E.O. Green School.

…McInerney's inability to see another way to solve his problem is partly the fault of the school system, his attorney said.

"Brandon is not some crazed lunatic," Quest said. "This was a confluence of tragic events that could have been stopped. If there is partial blame in other places, let's not throw away Brandon for the rest of his life."
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"We think there will be evidence that the school, with the actions of Larry, didn't quite know how to deal with it," Quest said.

"Not a crazed lunatic." Well, crazed enough to shoot someone in the head, but perhaps not a lunatic. This experience may change all that, though, which explains why many people - including gay activists - are hoping McInerney gets tried as a juvenile, not an adult.

School officials cry foul over Quest's explanations. Says superintendent Jerry Dannenberg: "School officials definitely were aware of what was going on, and they were dealing with it appropriately." Dannenberg also mentioned King's right to wear makeup, earrings and other ladylike garb. The school, in fact, would have been wrong to try to curb his behavior.

TR Knight last night spoke with students at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex's School of Social Justice about the Day of Silence.

The Grey's Anatomy actor opened by offering some regrets about having to even address the a subject, particularly with regard to Lawrence King, before launching into some personal reflection about feeling "wrong" as a child and discussing Simmie Williams, Jr, another, underpublicized queer teen who died this year. Williams was shot for wearing a dress, while King lost his life for having a crush on the wrong guy, his killer.

Knight uses this point to point a finger at intimidated straight men, saying "straight guys feel so threatened by us - look at me, I'm not going to hurt you!" Crushes, he concludes, are completely natural and while they may be a nuisance, they are certainly not a license to kill. Or even maim.

He also points out "If a guy wants to wear a dress, so what? It's not a big deal. Let him wear a damn dress!" But only if the heels match, natch!

Curmudgeonly journalist Larry King shows his softer side as he discusses ending violence against the gay folk.

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The debate over who's to blame for Lawrence King's death continues to rage two months after his murder.

For those of you living under a rock, 15-year old King died in February after a 14-year old classmate, Brandon McInerney, shot him in the head. King had reportedly asked McInerney to be his Valentine, which many say spurred the violent outburst. Thus, many claim that King only invited the explosive retaliation. Journalist Neil Broverman once mulled that theory, while a Mississippi State University student took it one step further: "King… may have gone too far by imposing his sexuality on others." A pretty distasteful conclusion - and one that will no doubt be getting heavy play during McInerney's murder trial…

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