(no subject)
WASHINGTON (February 15, 2008) - Three days after a 14-year-old shot a classmate at E.O Green Junior High in Ventura County, California, a community mourns, a school district scrambles to review its safety policies, and eighth-grader Lawrence King has died.
Medical authorities announced Lawrence brain dead earlier this week; he was removed from life support this morning. The shooting, which has the classmate facing up to 50 years in prison, appears caused by his hostility to King's wearing high-heels, makeup, and jewelry, and his being gay. [Pictured: Young friend of Lawrence King is comforted during the aftermath of Tuesday's shooting. Photo Credit: The Los Angeles Times]
According to a 2007 GenderPAC report, 90% of youth and young adults targeted in fatal assaults because of their gender identity and expression were males who looked or acted femininely. One-third were teens.
On Tuesday, February 12, gun shots rang out near the end of a first period computer lab class full of students. Brandon McInerney, 14, who reportedly told peers that Lawrence was "having his last day," had shot his classmate in the head and back.
"[Lawrence] would come to school in high-heeled boots, makeup, jewelry and painted nails -- the whole thing," said Michael Sweeney, 13, an eighth-grader. "That was freaking the guys out." Classmates reported that Lawrence was a frequent victim of teasing and harassment. School officials, who were aware of the teasing and had spoken with Lawrence before the shooting, are now planning to review all of their policies.
Said GenderPAC Executive Director, Riki Wilchins, "This is a tragedy. More young people are claiming the basic right to express their gender authentically, but fatal violence against them keeps occurring. Our hearts go out to the family involved. We hope this unnecessary death will help wake people up to the many other young people who have left us too soon."
GenderPAC's 2007 report, 50 Under 30: Masculinity & the War on America's Youth documents an under-reported tide of violent assaults that has claimed the lives of more than 50 young people 30 and under since 1995 in assaults that targeted them because of their gender identity or gender expression. About 9 in 10 were biological males who were presenting femininely, like Lawrence. 88% were Black or Latina; one-third were teenagers. (www.50under30.org)
Additional studies of school safety in California by the California Department of Education reveal that students who were gay or perceived to be gay were more than five times more likely than other students to report being threatened or injured with a weapon. Student reports confirm that finding, more than half of students said that school was unsafe for boys who weren't as masculine as other boys in a 2004 California Safe Schools Coalition survey.
The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition works to ensure that classrooms, communities, and workplaces are safe for everyone to learn, grow, and succeed -- whether or not they fit expectations for masculinity or femininity. To learn more about GenderPAC, visit www.gpac.
Medical authorities announced Lawrence brain dead earlier this week; he was removed from life support this morning. The shooting, which has the classmate facing up to 50 years in prison, appears caused by his hostility to King's wearing high-heels, makeup, and jewelry, and his being gay. [Pictured: Young friend of Lawrence King is comforted during the aftermath of Tuesday's shooting. Photo Credit: The Los Angeles Times]
According to a 2007 GenderPAC report, 90% of youth and young adults targeted in fatal assaults because of their gender identity and expression were males who looked or acted femininely. One-third were teens.
On Tuesday, February 12, gun shots rang out near the end of a first period computer lab class full of students. Brandon McInerney, 14, who reportedly told peers that Lawrence was "having his last day," had shot his classmate in the head and back.
"[Lawrence] would come to school in high-heeled boots, makeup, jewelry and painted nails -- the whole thing," said Michael Sweeney, 13, an eighth-grader. "That was freaking the guys out." Classmates reported that Lawrence was a frequent victim of teasing and harassment. School officials, who were aware of the teasing and had spoken with Lawrence before the shooting, are now planning to review all of their policies.
Said GenderPAC Executive Director, Riki Wilchins, "This is a tragedy. More young people are claiming the basic right to express their gender authentically, but fatal violence against them keeps occurring. Our hearts go out to the family involved. We hope this unnecessary death will help wake people up to the many other young people who have left us too soon."
GenderPAC's 2007 report, 50 Under 30: Masculinity & the War on America's Youth documents an under-reported tide of violent assaults that has claimed the lives of more than 50 young people 30 and under since 1995 in assaults that targeted them because of their gender identity or gender expression. About 9 in 10 were biological males who were presenting femininely, like Lawrence. 88% were Black or Latina; one-third were teenagers. (www.50under30.org)
Additional studies of school safety in California by the California Department of Education reveal that students who were gay or perceived to be gay were more than five times more likely than other students to report being threatened or injured with a weapon. Student reports confirm that finding, more than half of students said that school was unsafe for boys who weren't as masculine as other boys in a 2004 California Safe Schools Coalition survey.
The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition works to ensure that classrooms, communities, and workplaces are safe for everyone to learn, grow, and succeed -- whether or not they fit expectations for masculinity or femininity. To learn more about GenderPAC, visit www.gpac.