ABSTRACT
On February 12, 2008 (in Oxnard, California) a young male teenager Lawrence King (aged 15),who presented an effeminate and sexually ambiguous identity,was murdered in cold blood at school by a fellow classmate,Brandon McInerney (aged 14).1 A few days later in response to the tragedy at E. O. Green Junior High, Ellen DeGeneres, in an emotionally charged state, on her popular network daytime talk show (The Ellen DeGeneres Show,Warner Bros, 2003-, US) told her audience:
Days before [the murder],Larry asked his killer to be his valentine. [pause,studio audience responds with emotional shock “ohhh”]. I don’t want to be political, this is not political, I am not a political person, but this is personal to me. A boy has been killed and a number of lives have been ruined.And somewhere along the line the killer (Brandon) got the message that it’s so threatening and so awful and horrific that Larry would want to be his valentine that killing Larry seemed to be the right thing to do.And when the message out there is so horrible,that to be gay,you can get killed for it,we need to change the message.
