From Ellen DeGeneres regarding the murder of a 15-year-old gay teenager, Lawrence King by a classmate in Oxnard, California (via Pam’s House Blend):
“…I need to talk to you about something that’s really serious and really sad and if you know me, it’s hard to talk about sad stuff without getting emotional but this is really important to talk about. On February 12th an openly gay 15-year-old boy named Larry who was an 8th grader in Oxnard, California, was murdered by a fellow 8th grader named Brandon. Larry was killed because he was gay. Days before he was murdered, Larry asked his killer to be his Valentine.
I don’t wanna be political, this is not political, I’m 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 so 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 . . .
Larry was not a second-class citizen, I am not a second-class citizen. It is okay if you’re gay . . . I don’t care what people say, I don’t care what people think, and I know there are entire groups of people who face discrimination every single day and we’re a long way from treating each other equally – all of it is unacceptable, all of it!
I disagree with Ellen on only one point: everything is political, especially the cause of human rights. Which is one more reason we need new leadership at all levels of government for our country, and a new direction from those we elect or appoint to positions of official authority, one which treats the lives of every human being the same, with dignity, respect and equal treatment under the law.