Remembering Lawrence King

Ryan White, Rita Hester, Matthew Shepard, “the Jersey four” and now Lawrence (a.k.a. Larry) King. All victims of harassment, bullying or hate crimes based on their HIV status, gender identification or sexuality. We remember them in our vigils. We know their legacies as the Ryan White CARE Act, the Transgender Day of Remembrance or the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Other legacies are yet to come, simply because the hate acts happened not years, but rather months, ago.

Created in 1996 by students from the University of Virginia, the Day of Silence represents a silent instrument in schools for fighting hate-driven behaviors against LGBT individuals.
“The Day of Silence is a very different kind of protest, a silent one, a powerful way of getting people to learn about hate crime,” said Nancy Caamano, the deputy executive director of Hudson Pride Connections, an LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS organization in Jersey City.

Ideally, student empowerment should come from the school administration, which usually addresses bullying when directed to someone’s weight or gender. But the administrations don’t know how to address bullying based on gender identity and sexuality. Thus, Day of Silence was born.

Now in its 12th year, the event, held April 25, was dedicated to Lawrence King, a effeminate 15-year-old from Oxnard, Calif. who was shot in the head in his school’s computer lab by a 14-year-old. He was killed because he was gay. More of Remembering Lawrence King