In the wake of the senseless killings at NIU, there was another story that went practically unreported by the media, also involving an in-school shooting. Though this one, rather than a random act of violence, was a pointed premeditated attack on a single student.

(A) 15-year-old gay California student is brain dead after a student allegedly shot him because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.

Lawrence King, an eighth-grader at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, was being kept alive today for organ donation after being shot Tuesday morning in class. The 14-year-old attacker, among a group of students known to bully and harass King because he sometimes wore makeup and jewelry and told classmates he was gay, will be charged with murder and a hate crime.

Ignoring the fact that almost half the kids I see these days wear makeup and jewelry, along with those “skinny girl jeans”, part of the story could sound a little misleading. Some may be trying to make it sound like the kid was flamboyantly decked out in drag but in perhaps he was really just dressing in “emo fashion”. Not that it should make a difference either way, I really don’t know. But…

I thought this was an important story to report, because while acts such as what happened at NIU are tragic, we can’t forget that there are acts of violence such as this that happen everyday due to prejudice and intolerance. It’s a sad truth that we can’t lose sight of, and should work everyday to prevent, regardless of how you may feel about homosexuality (or any other differences between people for that matter). Such occurrences simply should not be allowed to take place. Ever.

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