-- Posted by bloodhunter at 7:44 pm on July 20, 2008 US News: Cover: Young, Gay and Murdered in Junior High MSNBC Newsweek Jul 20 2008 3:58PM GMT View Full Story -- Posted by Young Deezy at 7:45 pm on July 20, 2008 I lived 2 doors down from him. He always acted weird. -- Posted by anc8469 at 7:46 pm on July 20, 2008 Yea there was no reason for someone to kill a kid even thought he's gay. -- Posted by ashleyacid at 7:46 pm on July 20, 2008 Thats horrible. I read it earlier. -- Posted by Mieux at 7:46 pm on July 20, 2008 It's incredibly sad. I think my eyes got watery the first time I heard about him in the news. -- Posted by Rodiggidy at 7:46 pm on July 20, 2008 only in california -- Posted by bloodhunter at 7:47 pm on July 20, 2008 Quote: from ashleyacid at 10:46 pm on July 20, 2008 Thats horrible. I know how could someone do that -- Posted by JeanClaude at 7:47 pm on July 20, 2008 As bad as I feel about it you have to keep in mind how he was mercilessly taunting the wrong people and he knew this was going to happen to him someday because of it. -- Posted by only in ky at 7:48 pm on July 20, 2008 Quote: from Black Sheep at 10:46 pm on July 20, 2008 It's incredibly sad. I think my eyes got watery the first time I heard about him in the news. Mine did. It's a horrible thing to do to someone because of their orientation. -- Posted by Latin Muscle at 7:48 pm on July 20, 2008 The guy who shot him is a coward. Hopefully he gets raped and gets his ass split open by criminals in jail. -- Posted by GaelicFreak at 7:48 pm on July 20, 2008 I heard about this about a month ago. It's sad. -- Posted by iimjustbadnews at 7:50 pm on July 20, 2008 I heard about this and was completed upset at the fact some kid shot him. -- Posted by xidontcarex at 7:55 pm on July 20, 2008 This is a bit of an old story, but it definitely wasn't right for that kid to get shot. -- Posted by Bacon at 11:04 pm on July 20, 2008 This is more a problem with gun control in the US rather than obvious homosexuality in youth. -- Posted by xlovexmex at 12:09 am on July 21, 2008 I tried to get my school to participate in Day of Silence this year. because it was held this year in memory of Larry King.   But my principle said no. I was kind of mad. He said it was because he couldn't isolate bullying of one group. He said that if I wanted I could research projects to help students understand the need to stop bullying. By then I was really mad that he wouldn't even consider the day. After he said no he yelled at me because parents were concerned because as a homeroom we tried to research the day to see if we wanted to do it and someone told there parents that the school was forcing them into something that went against the religion. We couldn't even look at the website because it was blocked because "Gay, Lesbian, Trans-gender issues."   by the way he was killed like 5 months ago. and the media refused to do press coverage. -- Posted by exceedinglyrare at 4:52 am on July 21, 2008 Quote: from xlovexmex at 3:09 am on July 21, 2008 by the way he was killed like 5 months ago. and the media refused to do press coverage. What media are you talking about? I'd read about this story back when it first happened, on several different sites and through several different periodicals. Anyway. My feelings on this issue are mixed. It's horrible that this kid was shot, but when you read about the stuff he was doing to other blokes in that school, particularly the one who shot him, I can't help but wonder...if he'd been told to stop harrassing them, would things have ended differently? -- Posted by allsmiles at 10:44 am on July 21, 2008 51 years to life, at 14... christ, that's barbaric. The kid will be a totally different person in 4 years. Yes, what he did was wrong, but 51 fucking years is ridiculous. -- Posted by Dexter Ward at 11:15 am on July 21, 2008 Quote: from allsmiles at 1:44 pm on July 21, 2008 51 years to life, at 14... christ, that's barbaric. The kid will be a totally different person in 4 years. Yes, what he did was wrong, but 51 fucking years is ridiculous. He's lucky they didn't execute him. -- Posted by Sudo XE at 4:26 pm on July 21, 2008 This is a tragedy. Both kids were let down by society. Brandon witnessed his dad shooting at his mom when he was angry, and didn't have any good examples of how to deal with the anger and fear he was feeling. Larry was searching his boundaries and doing what he felt in his heart, but did not have any real examples of relationships or friendships to base those on, so pushed them as far as the rules would allow. The teacher is not at fault. As any good mentor would, she encouraged him to be himself, but within the confines of the school rules. Larry had a right to dress and act as he pleased as long as it was within the rules of the school and the law. She did not encourage him to flirt with straight people and taunt them. She encouraged him to act himself, and as any other normal person would, when they are interested in someone romantically Larry talked about it. The tragedy is that they did not know how to cope with their feelings. What we need is a movement to start from this. Children at this age are experiencing emotions, and hormones, and feelings they've never felt before. They are also starting to develop their own sense of morals, and rules, and behaviours aside from those of their parents or peers. Most parents don't have the time, don't know how, or just don't talk to their kids about this. What we need is community involvement. People of all backgrounds should come into schools and discuss their views on life so the kids can start to develop and understand their own feelings and beliefs. Parents should be key in this process helping their kids understand what they believe, but also allowing the kids to hear other points of view and develop their own feelings so they don't feel so allienated all the time. Whatever you think you are not always right, I am not always right, but what is right is probably somewhere in between everyone, so we should all have the opportunity to hear from everyone and maybe we won't be so scared of everyone other then ourselves. ^ this was pretty smart -- Posted by Bacon at 5:06 am on July 26, 2008 Quote: from HarrySunderland at 4:15 am on July 22, 2008 Quote: from allsmiles at 1:44 pm on July 21, 2008 51 years to life, at 14... christ, that's barbaric. The kid will be a totally different person in 4 years. Yes, what he did was wrong, but 51 fucking years is ridiculous. He's lucky they didn't execute him. They still do executions? -- Posted by Wakeupcall at 7:49 am on July 26, 2008 Quote: from JeanClaude at 7:47 pm on July 20, 2008 As bad as I feel about it you have to keep in mind how he was mercilessly taunting the wrong people and he knew this was going to happen to him someday because of it. That's an awful thing to say. There is NO reason to murder anybody. Ever. You're actually defending Brandon? -- Posted by JeanClaude at 10:11 am on July 26, 2008 Quote: from Wakeupcall at 10:49 am on July 26, 2008 Quote: from JeanClaude at 7:47 pm on July 20, 2008 As bad as I feel about it you have to keep in mind how he was mercilessly taunting the wrong people and he knew this was going to happen to him someday because of it. That's an awful thing to say. There is NO reason to murder anybody. Ever. You're actually defending Brandon? I'm not saying I excuse it, I'm just saying he was a troubled kid who knew something like this would happen if he sexually harassed the wrong people. As much as my heart goes out to him and his family it should not be read as a random act of violence against someone just for being different, which many into this article.