Exploiting Child Murderers For Social Agendas

The Death of Lawrence King

Social Struggles and America’s Sexuality Crisis

On February 12th of this year, an openly-homosexual boy named Lawrence King lost his life. One of his classmates, 14 year-old Brandon McInerney, shot him in the head at the E.O. Green School. It has been announced that McInerney will be tried as an adult and will be charged with first-degree murder and a hate crime. More complete information on the incident, along with background information on the perpetrator and victim, can be found in an excellent article published by the Ventura County Star.

Few of us would know of King’s tragic death were it not for Ellen DeGeneres calling attention to the incident on her talk show.  What is unfortunate is that DeGeneres glossed over the real issue by portraying this story as resulting from mere gay-bashing.  According to Ellen, King was killed after asking McInerney to be his Valentine.  The actual events leading up to King’s death involved weeks of tension between the perp and victim; McInerney couldn’t tolerate King’s open homosexuality, and King couldn’t pass up the opportunity to respond to McInerney’s bullying by hitting on McInerney (in what way, or to what extent, has not been particularly well-reported).

Of course, there is no advance that King could have made, in jest or otherwise, that would justify his murder.  However, evidence surrounding the case suggests that King’s homosexuality was not the core issue behind his eventual demise; rather, it was McInerney’s profound fear of being labeled a homosexual combined with his willingness to resolve problems with violence.

Child Pressure, Confusion and Sexuality of 14-year old McInerney

Consider carefully what pressure McInerney must have been under leading up to his commission of a crime. How many of his fellow students were circulating rumors about McInerney or otherwise questioning his masculinity? How many times had King made advances towards McInerney? And how much of a crisis did McInerney perceive this rumor-mongering to be?

In a perfect world, boys like Brandon McInerney would shrug off the usual social backstabbing, bullying, and rumor-mongering that takes place in schools all across the country. Sadly, neither McInerney nor the world in which we live is perfect.  He was raised on a steady diet of domestic violence, marital strife, and drug abuse. He matured into a young man who seemed almost obsessed with projecting an image of military discipline, physical prowess, and self-importance.

McInerney had talent. He was going places. And, for some reason, he could not bear to be in the same school as a makeup-wearing boy named Lawrence King who was more known for his high-heel boots than anything else. By resorting to violence, McInerney not only stripped an innocent boy of his life but also discarded his own. Surely he must have felt so threatened by King that he saw no recourse outside of murder. There was no way McInerney could have gotten away with the crime given the manner of its execution. In the mind of McInerney, the mere implication that he was homosexual was both the kiss of death and an unforgivable sin.

Ellen DeGeneres Wrongfully Exploited This Issue To Promote Political Agenda

DeGeneres was wrong to suggest that prevailing mass-media treatment of homosexuality was somehow responsible for Lawrence King’s death. McInerney was not conditioned to kill by biased rants against homosexuals on television or from repeatedly hearing peers use the word “gay” in a negative connotation. In fact, the argument that he was conditioned to kill by anyone or anything may be bogus.  Even with his troubled past, one can not excuse his crime based solely on the poor behavior of his parents.

In fact, most teenage boys do face considerable pressure from sources both internal and external to exemplify heterosexual masculinity; some, like Brandon McInerney, apparently take this pressure more seriously than others. For McInerney, his image as a heterosexual was everything. He would berate non-conformists like Lawrence King for even deigning to be homosexual, and he would kill to silence those who dared cast doubt on his sexual preference. What McInerney had bought into was the idea that homosexuality is the province of lisping, limp-wristed weaklings who exist for no reason other than to be the butt of jokes.

Perhaps DeGeneres does have one point, and that is that popular media and culture have created this image of homosexuality which, in turn, drives so many insecure young men into both fearing and loathing homosexuality and its apparent ability to make men weak and worthless. However, there are plenty of homophobic teenage boys out there who would never take matters as far as did Brandon McInerney. They know not to kill, and presumably they know that they can defend their public image in some fashion that does not involve murder or even violence. McInerney apparently couldn’t make those determinations.

Furthermore, none of those evil media companies, actors, writers, comedians, or other cultural icons who use homosexuality as the butt of jokes clearly advocate murder. Those who do call for violence against homosexuals can expect public outrage at the very least, if not unemployment and soft censorship. The campaign against intolerance that DeGeneres seems to want already exists for the most part, even if it has not lead to a more sophisticated public image for homosexuals in art and media.

McInerney’s Mind: From Sexuality, Frustration, and Confusion to Cold-Blooded-Killer?

While King’s death may be tragic, McInerney’s descent into murderous depravity is equally tragic.

It is true, that he should never have cared so much about Lawrence King’s fixation with effeminate behavior and dress, nor should he have been even remotely concerned with what others considered to be his sexual preference. Like many young Americans, McInerney would probably have severed ties with his junior high and high school peers upon graduation from high school in one way or another. Had he joined the Marines, it is unlikely that the USMC would have used any reputation he may have had for questionable sexual preferences against him regardless of the source or validity of that reputation.

All he had to do was endure the indignity of being near an openly-gay boy in heels until he got the chance to move on to the Marines, college, or elsewhere. But for some stupid reason, he just had to keep face in front of his peers whose lives and opinions would ultimately hold no sway over his future, much less his present. Now McInerney will pay dearly when he is sentenced by a likely-zealous prosecutor who seems intent upon throwing the book at him (and trying him as an adult). How ironic is it that, in so violently establishing his heterosexuality, McInerney may find himself subjected to sexual harassment the likes of which he has never before experienced in the prison that will eventually become his home?

Matthew Anderson is a non-violent postal worker, freelance columnist, father, husband, and oddball.
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