Family of Slain Gay Boy Blames School

[DeEtte]

VENTURA, Calif. (Aug. 15) The family of a gay teenager who was fatally shot in class blames the school district for allowing their son to wear makeup and feminine clothing to school — factors the family claims led to the death. The parents and brother of 15yearold Larry King of Oxnard filed a personal injury claim against the Hueneme school district seeking unspecified damages for not enforcing the dress code. King, an eighthgrader at E.O. Green Junior High School, was shot in February. Classmate Brandon McInerney pleaded not guilty to the shooting last week. He was charged as an adult and also faces a charge of a committing a hate crime. The family’s claim, filed last week in Ventura County Superior Court, said administrators and teachers failed to enforce the school’s dress code when King wore feminine clothing and makeup to school. His parents, Dawn and Gregory King, said faculty members knew their son had “unique vulnerabilities” and was subject to abuse because of his sexual orientation. King was a ward of the court and living at a shelter for abused, neglected and emotionally troubled children at the time of the shooting. A call for comment to district Superintendent Jerry Dannenberg was not immediately returned. State law requires individuals to file a claim before proceeding with a lawsuit against a public agency.

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[DeEtte]

a) not the school or anyone else's "fault" if he was wearing makeup & dressing feminine. IS the schools fault he was shot.

b) clearly the boy had problems, and his parents couldn't be bothered to deal with him.

its a sad, sick shame.

parents, talk to your kids!!!

[Tammara]

I'm shocked that this is the central issue of the lawsuit and not the fact that the other kid had access to a gun(?) Whose fault is that??

Children definitely need to be talked to - about learning to respect one other and our differences, as well as how to cope with being the subject of bigotry. The school's responsibility is education. The obligation of instilling ethics, good moral and social behavior is vested in the parents.

It is a sad situation by and large because it was probably wholly preventable.