The Case for Fear

I don't pay attention to the daily sensationalist "news" so I hadn't heard about the murder of young Larry King of California.
Here's a boy going to middle school in high heeled boots and make-up. Middle school.
It's wonderful that young people feel comfortable enough to be out at younger and younger ages.
I wonder, though, if they aren't getting a gilded view of reality for our media.
The problem is you don't know who you can trust.
In my experience, people judge you before they bother to get to know you. I was tormented in college, verbally. Bodily harm was spoken of by cowards in windows not showing their faces.
My friends were threatened. The writing was on the bathroom walls.
I read stories about crimes against gays and lesbians ranging from discrimination to death.
A student at the college I attended was murdered with her lover on the Appalachian Trail... and it wasn't the first time homosexuals were targeted and murdered on "the Trail."
People all over, with their guard down, have been tricked and beaten and murdered for sport.
I salute the young people in Okeechobee, Florida who just won the right to have a Gay Student Alliance, a fight that started in the Fall of 2006. Small victories are big steps. You can call Okeechobee "a hick town." Something amazing has happened since I was in school.
And children aren't growing up aware of the dangers of being different.
I wonder if it is worthwhile to be true to yourself only to have your life cut short.
Was it worth it up to the final moment?
Don't get me wrong. I'd love to live in a world where the simple act of holding a hand isn't viewed as a threat, punishable by any means including death.
This young man should not be dead. He should be anticipating the coming school year.
Whatever told Larry to be free in his self-expression, opposing forces told to his schoolmate to be an activist for fear and prejudice.