From Time.com ~ Lawrence King, an eighth grader who identified as gay and wore makeup and nail polish, was 15 when he was declared brain dead on Feb. 13.
The day befor
e, he had been shot in the head in an Oxnard, Calif., classroom full of students. Police have charged a sweet-faced boy called Brandon McInerney, 14, with first-degree murder and with a hate crime. According to the Los Angeles Times and KTLA, McInerney and some other boys accosted King about his sexuality on Feb. 11. Students apparently often taunted King, who didn’t even have a safe home to return to after school: he was living in a shelter for abused and troubled children.
The article got me thinking of my own high school days. I recall there was a student who was bisexual. I attended a boarding school so as can be expected news not only traveled fast but was also constantly distorted. The student in question was often taunted and accused of being evil simply because she got intimate with one of the other students. Students also pulled some pretty mean stunts and it's a wonder that she not only stuck out the school year, but also graduated with me at the time. She understood who she was and that is something that I can now stand back and admire.
The question that always stands out in my mind is why did I not come to her defense when I was beginning to realize that I was definitely not straight. Simple and most complicated answer is fear. As long as I stuck to my tomboyish ways, I could get away with a lot. I kept my popularity at school and could continue to sit on several distinguished teams that I was a part of. Mind you, I was at one of the top Catholic schools so to be on these teams meant you had sweated your way onto the team and would do whatever had to be done to stay on it. I got to dress as I pleased even going so far as to wear the school shoes that were reserved for our male counterparts ( a small thing you might think, but I received numerous citations for that ).
I understood that anything that was not status quo would not be acceptable. I wanted to graduate with a reputation that was fairly intact. I also didn't think I could handle the taunting. In addition most of my friends' parents were known to mine so anything that happened to one of us would ultimately make the rounds. Case in point, the afore mentioned girl. My mother asked me about the incident and I pled ignorance as this was not a conversation that I was having with my mother. (My mother and I have since had round about conversations on homosexuality even though I have not come out and said yes I am actually a lesbian. More of that in a later post).
Now having rambled endlessly, I have to say all this is not to excuse myself for not doing the right thing and defending her or at least warning her of the pranks, but to instead say that self-preservation will oft times takes precedence over what is for the greater good. Would I change how I did things in the past no, but I am trying to do what I can to start conversations about something that is considered taboo in the my culture. Hopefully by discussing it, more acceptance can be gained and more people will be able to live openly.
Teach Tolerance!
Ty
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