A
week
after
a
troubled
15-year-old
lesbian
fatally
shot
her
classmate
and
close
friend
in
a
hallway
at
Fort
Lauderdale’s
Dillard
High
School,
parents,
family
members
and
gay
community
leaders
are
examining
the
lack
of
services
at
the
school
for
gay
teens.
Police
say
Teah
Wimberly
shot
and
killed
Amanda
Collette,
15,
in
a
crowded
hallway
Nov.
12
after
Collette
rejected
Wimberly’s
romantic
advances.
Wimberly
turned
herself
in
at
a
fast-food
restaurant
about
a
block
away
from
school.
It
was
reported
that
Wimberly
had
recently
come
out
as
a
lesbian
and
was
rejected
by
friends
and
family.
According
to
the
arrest
affidavit,
Wimberly
told
police
she
shot
Collette
to
make
her
“feel
pain
like
me.”
In
Broward
County,
there
are
about
20
schools
with
gay-straight
alliances,
but
Dillard
is
not
one
of
them.
Collette’s
aunt,
Tashana
Thompson,
represented
the
family
at
a
press
conference
two
days
after
the
shooting.
“We
are
saddened
because
two
lives
were
lost,”
Thompson
said.
“We
hope
that
it
would
raise
awareness
for
anti-violence
programs
in
the
schools.”
In
October,
Broward
Schools
began
implementing
its
Safe
Schools
“Anti-Bully”
policy
passed
by
the
Florida
Legislature
this
year.
The
Broward
policy
is
regarded
among
the
most
progressive
in
the
state
because
it
specifically
names
harassment
against
gay,
lesbian,
bisexual
and
transgender
students.
At
Dillard,
teachers
began
training
but
several
students
said
they
but
only
got
handouts
about
policies
in
October.
The
lack
of
services
is
jarring,
said
Robert
Loupo,
founder
of
Safe
Schools
South
Florida.
“Having
counselors
on
the
staff
or
having
a
GSA
or
students
she
could
talk
would
have
made
a
difference,”
Loupo
said.
While
the
shooting
has
shaken
the
community
around
Dillard,
it
has
also
raised
the
concerns
of
GLBT
community
leaders.
Adriane
Reesey,
board
member
of
Broward
County’s
Human
Rights
Board,
said
the
shooting
reinforces
stereotypes
of
gay
kids
as
being
dangerous
and
deranged.
“What
scares
me
about
it
is
that
this
case
has
the
potential
to
polarize
the
community,”
Reesey
said.
“I
don’t
want
to
see
that
happen.”
Wimberly
is
charged
with
first-degree
murder
and
with
firing
a
weapon
on
school
grounds.
State
prosecutors
have
not
determined
whether
she’ll
be
tried
as
an
adult.
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