Horrific? Tragic? Disgusting? Scary? How does one explain what happened to 15 year-old Lawrence “Larry” King on February 12th, 2008? That’s the day that, at 8:15am in the school’s computer lab, his 14-year old classmate, Brandon McInerney, shot Larry in the head. Why? Because a few days earlier Larry asked Brandon to be his Valentine. Larry died on February 15th, 2008. To paraphrase Ellen DeGeneres’ impassioned plea to the American people on her February 29th, 2008 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, we know it’s time for serious and immediate changes when it’s so horrific to be approached by someone of the same sex that the alternative is to kill the person. Not only is Larry’s life over, but Brandon’s is too. Brandon is also a victim in this horrible mess; a victim of his time, a victim of his upbringing, a victim of a society that failed to teach him 1) that gay is O.K., and 2) violence is not the answer. Remember, Brandon too is not much more than a child. This does not excuse his behavior, it merely makes his actions all the more harrowing. Though King’s death has received but a fraction of the media coverage that follows most school-shooting incidents there’s a lot you can do.  This year’s National Day of Silence on April 25 will be held in memory of Lawrence King’s and Vigils are being organized around the country. To find out more, visit glsen.org and join the MySpace or Facebook groups here.