Making Sense of a Tragedy

Our community has responded with strong emotion to our cover story on the murder of 15-year-old Lawrence King. A number of voices whom we respect have objected to our raising difficult questions about what we can and must do to protect our gender-nonconforming youth.

We welcome this debate. Indeed, sparking this kind of dialog is at the core of our editorial mission. It is the crux of our service to the community. We hope you will share your thoughts with us, on this story and on all the work we do.

To facilitate an ongoing discussion, we invite you to reread the full complement of pieces we published as they ran in our April 8 issue: the cover story, a companion piece by trans activist Riki Wilchins, and my Letter From the Editor.

The results of our online reader poll also merit a place in the discussion. We asked: "Should LGBT teens exercise caution in expressing their identity?" By a wide margin, respondents said yes.

Yes: 64% No: 27% Unsure: 9%

Rest assured, we will continue to follow the story of Lawrence King. Meanwhile, we look forward to hearing from you.

Our youth are being murdered. How will we bring that to a halt? That’s the question on the table. We are all responsible for finding the answer.