Last February, in Oxnard, Calif., a boy, 15, was shot and killed in his eighth-grade English class, allegedly by Brandon McInerney, his 14-year-old classmate. The victim, Lawrence King, had told his parents and friends that he thought he was gay or bisexual; in the last few weeks of his life, he sometimes dressed in girl's attire: makeup, hoop earrings, stiletto shoes. Since the shooting, much of the media coverage has followed a similar narrative -- Larry's death was the result of exteme homophobia. But as this week's Newsweek explains, the story of Larry's life and his murder is much more complicated. Here are some images that accompany Larry's tale.

 
 
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  • Posted By: cari_jo_wyo_girl @ 09/27/2009 4:12:57 PM

    You should be ASHAMED of your comment cheerygardner!!!! For you to tell someone to hide out in there house because of there sexuality.. There is constantly people holding hands and loving on one another everywhere I see and everyone seems to think that it is ok as long as it is MAN AND WOMAN... That is hypecritical and just plain a$$ wrong! People dont just go around a kill someone cause they are straight, and it shouldnt be the other way around either!!! And for you to tell someone to not flaunt the love that they have for someone it is just ignorant!! I am sure that your husband/wife and you go out into public ( am I correct?) Just reading your comments make me know that there still are ignorant people that are not changing with times!!! Dont you get it that we live in the 21st century and wether you are gay/lesbian/bisexual or straight, you still have rights... So if you dont like it then maybe you should be the one to not come out of your house!!!!!!

  • Posted By: runemom @ 10/11/2008 10:44:28 AM

    And people wonder why teenagers say nobody listens? To those who have nitpicked undestandingteen's grammer, syntax, and spelling. Yes, it's bad. There is a need for more English lessons there. But I find it disappointing that the comments have focused only on the grammar and spelling, completely ignoring the Content. This is a teenager who was touched by this article, and had the decency to say that he thought what happened was wrong. Whether he said it correctly or incorrectly shouldn't have any bearing on the validity of his comment.

  • Posted By: USArmy Man @ 09/11/2008 10:40:31 AM

    WOW, In reference to "1UNDERSTANDINGTEEN".....I hope you are in some sort of remedial english course! I simply have a hard time believing that your english skills are that bad as a "Senior" in High School! You won't have any chance of success in ANY College or University with such a lack of BASIC language skills! Heed my advice and go back to the 6th grade!

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