Current mood: distressed

One of the shooters even turned out to be a woman.

The one that haunts me the most however – and has received the least attention – is the murder of Lawrence "Larry" King, the 15 year old Oxnard student shot in the back of the head in front of his entire computer class Tuesday.

Larry died yesterday afternoon. Pronounced brain dead, he was kept on a ventilator at  St. John's Regional Medical Center, where doctors removed some of his organs for donation at the request of his grief stricken family.

Still grappling with the issue of why Larry's 14 year old classmate Brandon McInerney would bring a gun to school and shoot their son before running away like the coward he is, they are now dealing with the senseless 'reason' behind one moment of horror.

Larry King was murdered because he was gay.

According to classmates, Brandon McInerney hated that.

He also hated that Larry sometimes liked to wear girls' clothing.

So? How did Larry's habits affect Brandon McInerney's pathetic life in any way?

Thankfully, Oxnard authorities were quick to not only charge this little monster as an adult, but with the Special Circumstance of a Hate Crime, which I am proud to say will NOT be tolerated in the state of California.

To all this I can only say with increasingly overwhelming grief – and I can hardly believe this is true - but Matthew Shepard has been forgotten.

That beautiful young man, robbed, beaten, tortured and left to die tied to a fence in Laramie, Wyoming, ten years ago in October, died in vain.

Larry King's murder comes the same week a horrifying report comes out of New York City, the first ever of its kind.

Of the nearly 4,000 young people under the age of 24 who go homeless each night, nearly one-third identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

Matthew Shepard's death was supposed to bring the end to intolerance.

Though the people of Wyoming were horrified by what happened to Matthew, a bill  introduced into the State legislature defining certain attacks motivated by victim identity as hate crimes, but the measure failed on a 30-30 tie in the Wyoming House of Representatives.

The then-President Clinton tried to extend Federal hate crime legislation to include gay and lesbian individuals, women, and people with disabilities.

This was rejected by the US House of Representatives in 1999.

In 2000, both houses of Congress passed such legislation, but it was stripped out in conference committee.

On March 20, 2007, the Matthew Shepard Act (HR 1592)  was introduced as Federal bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Congress, sponsored by Democrat John Conyers with 171 co-sponsors.

Matthew's parents, Judy and Dennis, were present at the introduction ceremony.

The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 3, 2007. Similar legislation passed in the Senate on September 27, 2007 (S 1105), but President Bush indicated he would veto the legislation if it reached his desk.

On December 10, 2007,  congress REJECTED a bipartisan bill passed, which would update the hate crimes legislation, also (bizarrely) attached to the Department of Defense Authorization bill.

While Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, says "she is still committed to getting the Matthew Shepard Act passed," young men and women are being victimized.

For being themselves.

What did Matthew Shepard's two killers get out of their homicidal spree?

Twenty dollars and a pair of shoes. They tried to use the 'Gay Panic' defense and thankfully lost.

I don't want to hear about Brandon McInerney and his horrible, hideous life. I will not read one article, I will not listen to one stupid comment about this heinous, evil little twerp who deserves the death penalty for his actions.

Somewhere in heaven, Matthew Shepard must be looking down on us, wondering, why, nine and a half years after he gave his life so that we, the people would learn tolerance, we are still the same barbarians.

As another martyr joins him Up There, you have to ask, how many more children must die before our government decides to pass an Act of Congress?

Who's Next?

Aloha oe,

A.J.

Currently listening : Music for the Motion Picture Into the Wild By Eddie Vedder Release date: 18 September, 2007