(NAME-MCE) FW: In Memoriam: Lawrence King

[Paul C. Gorski]

FYI
____

In Memoriam: Lawrence King
By Warren J. Blumenfeld

Each year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tracks incidents of
hate crimes throughout the United States. It reported in 2006, the most
resent of its reports, 7,722 criminal incidents involving 9,080 offenses
"as a result of bias against a particular race, religion, sexual
orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or physical or mental
disability." (U.S. Department of Justice, 2006).
*        51.8 percent were motivated by racial bias
*        18.9 percent were motivated by religious bias
*        15.5 percent were motivated by sexual-orientation bias
*        12.7 percent were motivated by ethnicity/national origin bias
*        1 percent was motivated by disability bias

         Once again, we are mourning the tragic death of yet another
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person, a courageous soul who
defied the sexuality and gender status quo and embraced life by living
with integrity, sincerity, and compassion.

         Speaking of her friend, Lawrence King, whom she referred to as
"Larry," Melissa Castillo, from E. O. Green High School in Oxnard,
California remembered her classmate and friend, as a person who "was
never afraid to show who he was....He was always the spirit of our
group. He was always smiling. He was always bubbling. If you were having
a bad day, or if you were feeling down, he was one to bring you back up
and make you start laughing again. He was proud of [who he was]. That's
what we loved about him."

             Melissa and Larry's other friends loved him for being proud
of being gay, and for expressing his gender in ways that felt
comfortable and integral to him, even though this often went again
convention. Larry occasionally came to school wearing traditionally
feminine articles of clothing - dresses or skirts with make up and
jewelry.  Not everyone, however, supported Larry's sexual identity and
gender identity and expression.

             On the morning of February 12, 2008, 14-year-old Brandon
McInerney, brandishing a gun, entered E. O. Green Junior High School,
walked up to Lawrence King, and blasted two bullets into his head at
close range. Reports indicate that McInerney targeted King because he
was openly gay and gender non-conforming. Doctors declared Larry brain
dead at the hospital, and three days later, took him off of life
supports. He was just 15 years old, and in the eighth grade.

         Lawrence King's name is now recorded on a continually growing
list of members of our communities who have been taken from us all too
soon, people who dared to be themselves and to push back the margins of
human potential and expression. They are my inspiration and my heroes.
Though their names are too numerous, I will mention just a few others.

          Twenty-one-year-old gay University of Wyoming student, Matthew
Shepard, who on October 6, 1998, was pistol whipped by two young men,
and tied to a wooden fence for over eighteen hours in near freezing
temperature. Matthew Shepard had hoped to dedicate his life to advancing
the cause of human rights for all people. His uncle, R. W. Eaton, said
that Matt was "a small person with a big heart, mind, and soul that
someone tried to beat out of him."

             Gwen Amber Rose Araujo, a male to female transsexual, in
Newark, California, at a party on October 3, 2002, was choked by a male
party goer. Three assailants continued to physically abuse and verbally
taunt Gwen for the next 5 hours. They bashed her head with a frying pan
and a can of tomatoes causing a large head gash to stream with blood.
Another person struck her with a barbell, while another crashed her head
into a plaster wall. Gwen's body was discovered two weeks later. The
three suspected assailants were arrested for Gwen's murder. Following
Gwen's funeral, people marched through the streets of Newark ending at a
community mall attended by local leaders. According to her mother,
Sylvia Guerrero, "[S]he went through a lot of pain, and people didn't
respect h[er]. It took a lot of guts. [S]he's strong, and [s]he finally
came out."

         In Alabama, two men bludgeoned to death Billy Jack Gaither - a
thirty-nine-year-old gay man - with an ax handle and tossed his limp
body onto a pyre of burning tires.

         Brandon Teena, a female-to-male transsexual, was gang raped in
Nebraska when the men found out he had a vagina. Teena reported the
incident to local police officials who basically discounted his story.
Soon thereafter, the perpetrators entered Teena's home and murdered him
along with two of his friends.

         Charlie Howard, a twenty-three-year-old gay man, was walking arm
in arm with his friend Roy Ogden after leaving a meeting of Interweave,
a support group for lesbians, gay males, bisexuals, and transgender
persons sponsored by the Unitarian Universalists in Bangor, Maine. Three
teenage males attacked them for being gay. While Ogden got away, the
three teens surrounded Howard, punched and kicked him as he attempted to
hang on to a rail of a bridge overlooking a stream below. One of the
teens gave the order to throw Howard from the bridge. When Howard heard
this, he cried out in panic saying he could not swim. His plea only
enlivened the boys, who dislodged Howard's hands from the railing, and
with a mighty heave, tossed him into the stream some 20 feet below.
Howard's lifeless body was found down stream.

         What was done to Larry, to Matthew, to Gwen, to Billy Jack, to
Brandon, and to Charlie is, unfortunately nothing new and is not limited
to them. We see hate-motivated violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender people and other targeted social groups on the rise,
though most do not reach a high level of public discourse. These are
examples of hate-related violence in general and so-called "queer
bashing" specifically. The killers live in a society that promotes
intolerance, for queer bashing comes in a great many forms.

         For today we still live in a society where some people proclaim
that we don't have a right to exist, but exist we do, everywhere, in all
walks of life. The truth is that there is currently a cultural war being
waged by the political and theocratic right, a war to turn back all the
gains progressive people have made over the years.

         No amount of intimidation, however, will ever lock us away
again. Lesbians, gay males, bisexuals, transgender people, and our
loving and supportive heterosexual allies are coming out in greater
numbers than ever before, as witnessed in the large outpouring of grief,
anger, and love in remembrance of Larry. As marginalized people, we are
pushing the boundaries unwilling any longer to accept the repressive
status quo. In coalition with other disenfranchised groups and allies,
we are refusing to buckle under and to assimilate into system that
forces people to relinquish their integrity and their humanity.

             One year before the death of another of our slain leaders,
gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk recorded a will that was
to be played in the event of his assassination. In it he stated that he
never considered himself simply as a candidate for public office, but
rather, always considered himself as part of a movement: a liberation
movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people - and a
liberation movement for all people.

             Each time Harvey spoke in front of a crowd, he urged people
to come out everywhere and often: "Tell your immediate family," he would
say, "tell friends, neighbors, people in the stores you shop in, cab
drivers, everyone." And he urged heterosexual people to be our allies,
to interrupt derogatory remarks and jokes, to support us and offer aid
when needed. If we all did this, he said, we could change the world.

             Well, in his brief time with us, Lawrence King also changed
lives. His caring soul transformed the people he met. Though his
murderer may have succeeded in devastating his body, he did not and will
never succeed in destroying his gentle spirit, or in extinguishing the
heart of a community and a movement for social justice, for Larry's
spirit continues, inspiring a people, a nation, a world.

             I truly believe that love WILL conquer the hatred. To Larry,
to Matthew, to Gwen, to Brandon, to Billy Jack, to Charlie, to Harvey,
and all the others, thank you for the riches you have left us. We will
continue the struggle in your name to make the world a safer and more
supportive environment for all its people. May you find the peace in
death that you could not always find in life.



Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld
Assistant Professor
Multicultural and International Curriculum Studies
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
wblumen at iastate.edu
515.294.5931 office
515.232.8230 home



----- End forwarded message -----


-- 
Paul C. Gorski
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Personal Page: http://www.paulgorski.efoliomn2.com/
-------------- next part --------------
Hey Paul,

Can you send this on to the EdChange folks and to NAME?

Thanks - H

 

Heather Hackman

Associate Professor

Department of Human Relations and Multicultural Education

St. Cloud State University

320-308-4095

From: Warren Blumenfeld [mailto:wblumen at iastate.edu] 
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 7:02 PM
To: wblumen at iastate.edu
Subject: In Memoriam: Lawrence King

 

In Memoriam: Lawrence King
By Warren J. Blumenfeld

Each year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tracks incidents of
hate crimes throughout the United States. It reported in 2006, the most
resent of its reports, 7,722 criminal incidents involving 9,080 offenses
"as a result of bias against a particular race, religion, sexual
orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or physical or mental
disability." (U.S. Department of Justice, 2006). 
*        51.8 percent were motivated by racial bias
*        18.9 percent were motivated by religious bias
*        15.5 percent were motivated by sexual-orientation bias
*        12.7 percent were motivated by ethnicity/national origin bias
*        1 percent was motivated by disability bias

        Once again, we are mourning the tragic death of yet another
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person, a courageous soul who
defied the sexuality and gender status quo and embraced life by living
with integrity, sincerity, and compassion. 

        Speaking of her friend, Lawrence King, whom she referred to as
"Larry," Melissa Castillo, from E. O. Green High School in Oxnard,
California remembered her classmate and friend, as a person who "was
never afraid to show who he was....He was always the spirit of our
group. He was always smiling. He was always bubbling. If you were having
a bad day, or if you were feeling down, he was one to bring you back up
and make you start laughing again. He was proud of [who he was]. That's
what we loved about him." 

            Melissa and Larry's other friends loved him for being proud
of being gay, and for expressing his gender in ways that felt
comfortable and integral to him, even though this often went again
convention. Larry occasionally came to school wearing traditionally
feminine articles of clothing - dresses or skirts with make up and
jewelry.  Not everyone, however, supported Larry's sexual identity and
gender identity and expression. 

            On the morning of February 12, 2008, 14-year-old Brandon
McInerney, brandishing a gun, entered E. O. Green Junior High School,
walked up to Lawrence King, and blasted two bullets into his head at
close range. Reports indicate that McInerney targeted King because he
was openly gay and gender non-conforming. Doctors declared Larry brain
dead at the hospital, and three days later, took him off of life
supports. He was just 15 years old, and in the eighth grade. 

        Lawrence King's name is now recorded on a continually growing
list of members of our communities who have been taken from us all too
soon, people who dared to be themselves and to push back the margins of
human potential and expression. They are my inspiration and my heroes.
Though their names are too numerous, I will mention just a few others. 

         Twenty-one-year-old gay University of Wyoming student, Matthew
Shepard, who on October 6, 1998, was pistol whipped by two young men,
and tied to a wooden fence for over eighteen hours in near freezing
temperature. Matthew Shepard had hoped to dedicate his life to advancing
the cause of human rights for all people. His uncle, R. W. Eaton, said
that Matt was "a small person with a big heart, mind, and soul that
someone tried to beat out of him." 

            Gwen Amber Rose Araujo, a male to female transsexual, in
Newark, California, at a party on October 3, 2002, was choked by a male
party goer. Three assailants continued to physically abuse and verbally
taunt Gwen for the next 5 hours. They bashed her head with a frying pan
and a can of tomatoes causing a large head gash to stream with blood.
Another person struck her with a barbell, while another crashed her head
into a plaster wall. Gwen's body was discovered two weeks later. The
three suspected assailants were arrested for Gwen's murder. Following
Gwen's funeral, people marched through the streets of Newark ending at a
community mall attended by local leaders. According to her mother,
Sylvia Guerrero, "[S]he went through a lot of pain, and people didn't
respect h[er]. It took a lot of guts. [S]he's strong, and [s]he finally
came out." 

        In Alabama, two men bludgeoned to death Billy Jack Gaither - a
thirty-nine-year-old gay man - with an ax handle and tossed his limp
body onto a pyre of burning tires.

        Brandon Teena, a female-to-male transsexual, was gang raped in
Nebraska when the men found out he had a vagina. Teena reported the
incident to local police officials who basically discounted his story.
Soon thereafter, the perpetrators entered Teena's home and murdered him
along with two of his friends. 

        Charlie Howard, a twenty-three-year-old gay man, was walking arm
in arm with his friend Roy Ogden after leaving a meeting of Interweave,
a support group for lesbians, gay males, bisexuals, and transgender
persons sponsored by the Unitarian Universalists in Bangor, Maine. Three
teenage males attacked them for being gay. While Ogden got away, the
three teens surrounded Howard, punched and kicked him as he attempted to
hang on to a rail of a bridge overlooking a stream below. One of the
teens gave the order to throw Howard from the bridge. When Howard heard
this, he cried out in panic saying he could not swim. His plea only
enlivened the boys, who dislodged Howard's hands from the railing, and
with a mighty heave, tossed him into the stream some 20 feet below.
Howard's lifeless body was found down stream.

        What was done to Larry, to Matthew, to Gwen, to Billy Jack, to
Brandon, and to Charlie is, unfortunately nothing new and is not limited
to them. We see hate-motivated violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender people and other targeted social groups on the rise,
though most do not reach a high level of public discourse. These are
examples of hate-related violence in general and so-called "queer
bashing" specifically. The killers live in a society that promotes
intolerance, for queer bashing comes in a great many forms.

        For today we still live in a society where some people proclaim
that we don't have a right to exist, but exist we do, everywhere, in all
walks of life. The truth is that there is currently a cultural war being
waged by the political and theocratic right, a war to turn back all the
gains progressive people have made over the years. 

        No amount of intimidation, however, will ever lock us away
again. Lesbians, gay males, bisexuals, transgender people, and our
loving and supportive heterosexual allies are coming out in greater
numbers than ever before, as witnessed in the large outpouring of grief,
anger, and love in remembrance of Larry. As marginalized people, we are
pushing the boundaries unwilling any longer to accept the repressive
status quo. In coalition with other disenfranchised groups and allies,
we are refusing to buckle under and to assimilate into system that
forces people to relinquish their integrity and their humanity.

            One year before the death of another of our slain leaders,
gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk recorded a will that was
to be played in the event of his assassination. In it he stated that he
never considered himself simply as a candidate for public office, but
rather, always considered himself as part of a movement: a liberation
movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people - and a
liberation movement for all people.

            Each time Harvey spoke in front of a crowd, he urged people
to come out everywhere and often: "Tell your immediate family," he would
say, "tell friends, neighbors, people in the stores you shop in, cab
drivers, everyone." And he urged heterosexual people to be our allies,
to interrupt derogatory remarks and jokes, to support us and offer aid
when needed. If we all did this, he said, we could change the world.

            Well, in his brief time with us, Lawrence King also changed
lives. His caring soul transformed the people he met. Though his
murderer may have succeeded in devastating his body, he did not and will
never succeed in destroying his gentle spirit, or in extinguishing the
heart of a community and a movement for social justice, for Larry's
spirit continues, inspiring a people, a nation, a world.  

            I truly believe that love WILL conquer the hatred. To Larry,
to Matthew, to Gwen, to Brandon, to Billy Jack, to Charlie, to Harvey,
and all the others, thank you for the riches you have left us. We will
continue the struggle in your name to make the world a safer and more
supportive environment for all its people. May you find the peace in
death that you could not always find in life. 



Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld
Assistant Professor
Multicultural and International Curriculum Studies
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
wblumen at iastate.edu
515.294.5931 office
515.232.8230 home