From Matthew to Lawrence

Oh, God, no--it's Matthew Shepard all over again.

It isn't, actually, but that was my immediate, visceral reaction to the cover of this week's (July 18th) Newsweek. The cover story is about the murder of gay middle-schooler Lawrence King and the deeper you get into the reporting the queasier and angrier you feel--among other reasons you're left with the distinct impression that King, the victim, portrayed for the most part in the article as a pathetic troublemaker, is essentially to blame for what happened to him.

He was shot dead in a computer lab by classmate Brandon McInerney who, after aiming directly at King's head and firing (twice), calmly tossed the gun to the floor and walked out of the room, to be apprehended minutes later by police.

I feel so distressed--so unsettled and depressed and pissed off--that I can't pull my thoughts together right now. I need to learn more about this awful story; I need to think about what's being said here.

More later.