The Year in Queer
A month-by-month breakdown of the important LGBT news events of 2008.
By the Editors
From The Advocate January 13, 2009
http://www.advocate.com/issue_story_ektid67143.asp (http://www.advocate.com/issue_story_ektid67143.asp)
12: Out eighth-grader Lawrence King is shot in the head by classmate Brandon McInerney at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, Calif. He dies two days later. McInerney, 14, awaiting trial, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder with a hate-crime enhancement.
22: Gay teenager Simmie Williams Jr. is found slain in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. His mother, Denise King, tells the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "I gave him two dollars for the bus and he never came back." She adds that she wasn't aware that he often dressed as a woman. His killer is still being sought.