Fellow Students at Larry King’s Memorial Service in Port Hueneme, California
Larry King’s memorial service was attended by more than 500 people in Port Hueneme, California. The service drew a diverse group of mourners who said that the killing had touched them deeply. Several students wore buttons bearing his picture. Lawrence “Larry” King was remembered Friday as a sensitive child, who on one recent Christmas helped his mother crochet hundreds of scarves so that U.S. troops in Afghanistan wouldn’t be without a holiday gift. “God knit Larry together and made him wonderfully complex,” the Rev. Dan Birchfield of Westminster Presbyterian Church told the crowd as he stood in front of a large photograph of the victim. “Larry was a masterpiece.”
The memorial service was a somber hourlong reflection on King’s life as a boy growing up in and around Oxnard, California. It was also a chance for his family, seated in a front row of Westminster Presbyterian Church, to offer a fuller portrait of the boy. King came to the public’s attention in the days after the classroom killing when it was revealed that another boy had targeted him after a falling out between the two about King’s sexual orientation.
The shooting has stunned residents of Oxnard, a laid-back middle-class beach community just north of Malibu. It has also drawn a strong reaction from gay and civil rights groups.
Ellen DeGeneres Speaks about the Killing of Larry King
Be a Voice Against Violence
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February 29, 2008 at 10:19 am
Dear Ellen,
You are so right on this. The hating has to stop and it has to stop now. I am a minister of Jesus Christ. You and I may not agree on everything but we do agree on this, it’s high time we started loving one another. Jesus wouldn’t have killed Larry. He would have put His arms of love and grace around him just to love on him. Jesus said they will know you are my followers by your love. The Bible says God is love and if you don’t love your fellow man whom you see how can you say you love God whom you haven’t seen. My goodness, the Beatles even said all you need is love. What are we waiting for?
Thank you for your stand against hate and thank you for your heart of love and compassion. My prayers are going up to the Lord for Larry’s family and friends.
Love ya,
Pastor Tim
PS – You are very funny too.
February 29, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Dear Ellen,
You spoke for many of us when you said discrimination against anyone has to stop. Making fun of others isn’t funny. Lawrence was a person who wasn’t hurting anyone and he didn’t deserve to die so young and in such a violent way.
My brother (53) is gay and I know it was scary for him to, as they say, come out of the closet. My heart and prayers go out to the families affected by this terrible tragedy.
Maureen Byrnes
February 29, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Ellen-Your heartfeld words about Larry have spoken to the horrors of discrimination with more honesty than I have ever heard. The fact that the world knows about Larry because of his death and not because of the honesty in which he was able to live his life, is wrong the world let alone his family and friends have been robbed. We need to change, we need to do it now before any other person is known for their death instead of their life. Thank you Ellen for making us laugh, making us think, showing us the good in the world, punishing the wrong and giving us the time to Dance.
Carrie McGurn
March 15, 2008 at 5:58 am
[…] of Larry King in Oxnard, California, including the now well-known statement that was made by Ellen DeGeneres on her television program. Below is a more recent Public Service Announcement against violence, a […]
April 2, 2008 at 12:41 pm
What an adorable kid he was. The more I read about him the more I weep.
Back in the seventies my generation indulged in some real gender bending in the schools–short shorts, long hair, earrings on boys as well as girls. Perhaps because there was no gay connection to the behavior, harassment during that era was minimal. Things are worse now. Many won’t agree, but with all these dress codes and uniforms–less freedom–things are worse now for gay and gender bending boys.
July 26, 2008 at 11:34 am
Homosexuality is not as widely accepted among everyday Americans as many want it to be. People do not raise their kids today as liberal and open as does media depict homosexuals. We cannot rush the views of a society, they will adapt over time. Is openly forcing your sexuality onto another 15 year old students is appropriate when they are not gay? How is that respectable to their still developing views, even if its the desire to be straight? You are treating this case as a soap box for the advancement of your own hollywood agenda, and I find it pathetic that you, as an adult, would stoop to that level. The death of this young man is a tragedy in every way, but don’t be naive. The failure of the adults and parents in correcting the behavior of this boys aggressive homosexuality for fear of being considered ‘anti-gay’ is where the root of this problem lies. You do nothing except promote this type of behavior.
October 22, 2008 at 1:02 am
As a friend of Larry’s, I can not tell you how important those messages are to me. If Larry was still with us today, I know he would be hugging everyone and letting them know how proud of us we are for taking a stand against violence. Now, not only will Larry be remembered by his family and friends, he will be remembered by the rest of the world. I remember one conversation I had with Larry in particular, when I asked him what he might be when he was older. He said, “I want to be famous because I’m really fabulous.” I remembered smiling because I couldn’t agree more. So thank you Ellen, for giving us a voice. This will always be very special to me.