Almost a thousand young people and supporters took to the streets in Oxnard, California to march against the recent shooting of an openly gay fellow student.

Fifteen year old Lawrence King was shot in class last week. He had come out to his fellow students and had started wearing make up and accessorising his school uniform with typically feminine items like high heeled boots. According to fellow classmates he was often teased and made fun of, but he always stood up for himself.

Fourteen year old Brandon McInerney is the student who alleged to have shot him. Some students say that he did it because King had recently told McInerney that he had a crush on him.

“I see no point in shooting someone for telling them that you like them,” said a friend of King’s to the LA Times.

The group marched holding signs which read “RIP Larry King,” “Gay Pride” and “Support Love and Tolerance”.

McInerney is being charged with premeditated murder and will be tried as an adult. If convicted he’s looking at fifty years in prison. Hate crime allegations could add one to three years to the sentence too.

Photos – Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times