Young, Gay and Murdered

No longer do we have concern for all children. Instead our concern is for Gays and the religious right fighing with them. Forget both sides, they both give most of thier energy on this on going debate. Instead of fighting for the rights of all children, especially the economicaly deprived. FACE IT; POOR CHILDREN ARE THE ONES THAT SUFFER SO LETS CHANGE OUR CONCERN TO THEM INSTEAD OF FOOLISH ADULTS.

There are greater and more pressing problems than the problems of the Gays. POVERTY issues have been put on the backburner, while mostly middle class and upper Gays get all the attention. Children of the poor get much, much more heartbreaking abuse than most groups. Larry's was one of them

Cities like San Francisco, the so call liberal city, are making laws against the Unemployed Homeless. When a family is unemployed and homeless, there is a great chance that the children will end up as wards of the state and thereafter be abused and raped. DONT FALL FOR THIS TWIST OF MAKING THIS AN ISSUE FOR THE GAY AGENDA. THE ISSUE SHOULD BE POOR CHILDREN.

Gays are using this as their issue. In truth, the issue should be the multi-tue discrimination received by POOR CHILDREN!

The Problem is not because of a 14 yr. old thinking he was gay.

The Problem is and was because this Economically Deprived child ended up as a ward of the state and was abused thereafter. He probably would not have been killed if he came from a non-poverty family

God Bless This Child. With a difficult home-life and clear ostracizcation at school that not one adult stepped in to stop, I can only trust that he has found a better and kinder world to live in but this one. Life is a terrible thing to to do a child, unless there are adult champions who step in and find a safe-haven for the lost, confused and mis-understood. I have, with my children, more than once, stepped into a Classroom, Principal's Office, and Staff Meeting to bring about a close to the bullying, the nasty and under-reported harrassment that the weakest children face everyday in school. WHERE ARE THE ADULTS?

After reading several comments about Larry's flamboyant behavior and how this led Brandon to shooting him, I must admit that several people are in their own little worlds. There have always been and will always be the "flamboyant" individuals out there and because of this we should be allowed to "beat them down" and possibly kill them??? Everybody has their own "flamboyant" quirks, maybe one of these manly men here is a great hunter and loves to show it by proudly displaying heads of helpless animals on their walls, should we beat down or possible kill them because they love to display this aspect of themselves? The fact is BRANDON TOOK A GUN AND KILLED ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL! It should not have to do with "gay or straight" flamboyant or not! Not only was Larry a troubled child, but he did not kill anyone! How many people here can say they went their whole school career and never felt humilated or embarassed? I am sure each and every one of us did, but did we take a gun and kill the person who humiltated us?

Shame on Newsweek for picking apart one or two details of a story, while entirely missing the big picture.

A person has the right ot be ANYTHING & ANYONE they want when they grow up. There is no reason to force ANYONE t conform to society's gender role expectations. Try being in their shoes and imagine how they must feel and what they are going through. And when the people who matter most in your life also seem to be embareassed and non supportive that is like having your dreams shattered for someones sick pleasures. If you can't look at it from their pint of veiw at least pick up a book and learn about what it is you don't understand before you open your mouth and show how small your I.Q. really is. Ms. Epstein seems like an incredible woman who was the only person who made Larry feel comfortable and capable of being open. Larry had a right to be comfortable in his own skin same as anyone else. Brandon maybe should have opened his mouth to somone if it was that bad. His upbringing unfortunatly sounds like he wasn't given the proper tools in life to deal with upset. Teachers miss a lot because many don't care or write it off as kids being kids. They need to be taught how to spot the problem and intervene to prevnet things not resort to judgeing based on fear of not understanding. Brandon should be punished and deprogramed of such hate. We will never truely know what ever went on between Larry and Brandon when no one was looking.

It doesn't matter what Larry liked to do. Clearly Larry needed a freind and someone to talk to or relate to. When Larry found that they judged both Ms. Epstein and Larry. Some people know from the ages of 2 and 3 years old that they are "different" so to speak. Yes Larry may have handled things a little differently than most but honestly out of all the people Larry felt were important in his life Which ones TRUELY ACCEPTED HIM? As far as Brandon he should have said somthing to someone and his homelife sounds like it may have played a huge role in how he learned to deal with things. Which is sad. Brandon not having any guidence in life left him relating better than people want to see to Larry. Brandon should be held accountable for his actions the same as anyone else in life would have to be. It is a sad day when even in death your own familiy publicizes their embareassment about their child. Shame on you. And hopefully they will get help for Brandon and deprogram him of such hate. Kudos though for donating Larry's organs to help save lives and help keep him alive in a different way. People, Schools, EVERYONE should EDUCATE themselves and others about acceptance and take the steps to make changes for a better world to prevent this terrible thing from ever happening again.

What do you do when someone just wants attention? You IGNORE them. I learned that in 5th grade.

The only complaints about Larry that the school received were about his dress style. Joy Epstein knew that when someone just wants attention, you ignore them. It's too bad that the other teachers were too emotional and prejudiced to follow suit. I think she was smart, but she couldn't have forseen what happened. So much flirting, teasing and bullying happens in a middle school hallway that the teachers probably had little knowledge of the specific interactions that took place between Larry and Brandon. But it is SO EASY to blame the teachers after the fact.

Anyway, the dress code is only tangentially related to the murder. Brandon was upset at Larry for flirting with him. But this could have happened no matter what kind of clothing he was wearing.

There are other ways to deal with issues. The article doesn't state, but did Brandon even talk to anyone about the humilation and harassment that he felt? I have children 23 to 3 and every one of them knows that if they have a problem or issue that is bothering them, they always have someone to come to.

Yes, the school should have taken a bigger and bolder step to the dress code issue especially since it did cause a disruption, but to say "don't punish the shooter"? So what you are saying is if you feel like you have been harassed or humiliated that it is alright to take a gun and shoot that person twice in the back of the head? It has nothing to do with the fact that a child liked to crochet or not!

Do you think Larry's father really was beating him? Might that have explained Larry's acting out?

Do you think Larry's foster father really was beating him? Might that have explained some of his behavior?