The Editor’s Desk

The picture of a prayerful Barack Obama on the cover of the July 21st Newsweek should be entitled "Obama's First Prayer", and the caption should read "Please God, make me President and I promise you'll never hear from me again."

Sexual preference has nothing to do with this case. This is about humanity. About a child killing a child. Something we see everyday, all over the world. We have created a society of child murderers in this country and all over the world. We created them, so now do we destroy them because of our failure to learn how to manage our Frankenstein? We must begin my expressing our compassion for Larry King, his family and his friends. They so desperately need it. And we must do the same for Brandon, his parents, and their friends and family, and for all the Brandon's the world over. It's very freeing to forgive. And to try to rehabilitate. We must bring this boy back into the fold of society, for his sake, and for ours as a society.

Michael Mehas
StolenBoy.com

While the death of this young boy is sad, your story is more about sculpting general onion on the topic of gay people. I am sure that many of 15 year old people die and for allot of reasons. What is your reason for picking this one? Could it be that you folks have an agenda?

Hate Crime?? i know this is just a reporter making a story of what his opinion is. But Brandon McInerney was different from Larry King?? just because of their sexuality? in the summary it never said that Brandon commented on if it was truly because larry king was gay! also maybe the kid killed larry because his name is larry reporters shouldn't jump to conclusions there are killings all over and never once do they wonder if it was just because the other person was gay or not. im not saying if thats the case or not but most people kill to kill but maybe Brandon was feeling violated from larry maybe larry was hitting on him which would make him go over board and do something that he would regret who knows!

I have news for you puritans: sexuality is with people from the moment they are born. Girls and boys ask eachother out all the time. If somebody you're not attracted to makes a pass at you,, just say, "I''m not interested.." That's all it takes. To shoot someone requires an amount of depravity that is pcychopathic. There is just no excuse for that young murderer.

I have news for you puritans: sexuality is with people from the moment they are born. Girls and boys ask eachother out all the time. If somebody you're not attracted to makes a pass at you,, just say, "I''m not interested.." That's all it takes. To shoot someone requires an amount of depravity that is pcychopathic. There is just no excuse for that young murderer.

Here is just another tragic example where we expect our educators in this country to have to deal with social issues .........AGAIN. It seems that we continually pile on more and more parental responsibllity on teachers and this is just another sad example. If we truly want to lay blame where it belongs? Lets look in the mirror!

I am very sorry for the death of Lawrence King, and I feel horribly for everyone who loved him.

I also feel for Brandon and his family. Did Brandon have a right to kill Larry? No, he most certainly did not. However, we do not know all of the details. What we have learned is that Larry may have harassed (intentionally or not) Brandon, which is of course no excuse to murder another human being, but we've also learned that BOTH boys were in abusive situations, so we have no idea what Brandon's mental state was at the time he committed this horrible act.

For example, (and I have not heard any details of the abuse of either child, so this is merely an illustration and not meant to be taken as fact) what if Brandon had been molested by a male family member? If a gay student had either harrassed or merely flirted innocently with Brandon, could the discomfort he felt be then magnified? And assuming that his friends acted like many teen boys would, and cruel jokes or further harassment directed towards Brandon ensued, then this could drive the boy to an unstable mental state.

The fact is, we have no idea what REALLY happened, and while I am no way trying to downplay the awful truth of the situation (An innocent child was gunned down point blank afterall) I AM saying that from Brandon's side, things may be a little more complicated.

We know that there was a history of violence in his family, and that his father had a criminal record, so we really have no idea what this boy was taught or exposed to in his life. So even though I believe he should be punished for this horrible crime he has committed, I think we should really stop to consider there may be some factors that we are not aware of (as well as the reality that he too, was just a child) before we assume the kid is pure evil.

I am very sorry for the death of Lawrence King, and I feel horribly for everyone who loved him.

I also feel for Brandon and his family. Did Brandon have a right to kill Larry? No, he most certainly did not. However, we do not know all of the details. What we have learned is that Larry may have harassed (intentionally or not) Brandon, which is of course no excuse to murder another human being, but we've also learned that BOTH boys were in abusive situations, so we have no idea what Brandon's mental state was at the time he committed this horrible act.

For example, (and I have not heard any details of the abuse of either child, so this is merely an illustration and not meant to be taken as fact) what if Brandon had been molested by a male family member? If a gay student had either harrassed or merely flirted innocently with Brandon, could the discomfort he felt be then magnified? And assuming that his friends acted like many teen boys would, and cruel jokes or further harassment directed towards Brandon ensued, then this could drive the boy to an unstable mental state.

The fact is, we have no idea what REALLY happened, and while I am no way trying to downplay the awful truth of the situation (An innocent child was gunned down point blank afterall) I AM saying that from Brandon's side, things may be a little more complicated.

We know that there was a history of violence in his family, and that his father had a criminal record, so we really have no idea what this boy was taught or exposed to in his life. So even though I believe he should be punished for this horrible crime he has committed, I think we should really stop to consider there may be some factors that we are not aware of (as well as the reality that he too, was just a child) before we assume the kid is pure evil.

This story is more about the difficulties of adolescence rather than being gay. I don't think everyone is seeing through the complexity of the situation. Who is the true bully here? Is it Larry or is it Brandon? I think arguements can be made for both sides. Larry is indeed a victim and the result is a tragedy. But, what if you look at this from the perspective of Brandon's point of view. Here is a boy who does not have a very stable family life; therefore, lack of parental support. He is embarrassed in front of his friends because an openly gay boy wants him to be his valentine. His friends now make fun of him and Brandon is now associated with being gay. The worst thing in life, whether you are an adult or child, is to be told you are something that you're not and no matter how much he may refute the fact that he isn't gay, he is up against the wall of public opinion (his classmates) that he is. With no parental support to sort out this problem, Brandon most likely sees two options, kill himself or eliminate the source of his problem. The second option expresses without a doubt from Brandon that he is indeed not gay and he has taken the ultimate action to solidify that fact. What if Brandon had chosen the latter option and committed suicide. The story would be a troubled teen, in an unstable family, ending his life short instead of facing the difficulties of life. Then, who becomes the victim and who becomes the bully? Let's spin it further and say Larry wasn't gay, but a "true bully" who made Brandon's life at school miserable, would more people see some justification in Brandon's actions? As always, please look beyond the obvious, there may always be another facet that isn't told. The Gay agenda, as I've heard it been described, is taking this terrible tragedy as another case of gay bashing. Although it is tragic that a 15 year old boy died, there is another 14 year old boy who must continue in this world with the guilt of what he's done. At such a young age, I doubt he truly understands the scope of his actions, when he becomes an adult, he will begin to feel the ramifications of his violence and it wouldn't surprise me to hear that Brandon someday ends his own life.