video streamed his sexual encounter with another man in their room. Like Jamey Rodemeyer, 18-year-old Tyler was just like any other teenager. Although he was gay he was so many other things as well – a talented musician, a kind friend, a beloved son and an excited student only three weeks into his first year of university. Yet his sexuality was the thing that was picked up on and made to define him. It was the reason Tyler was humiliated and had his privacy violated
Lady Gaga, who encourages fans to embrace their sexuality, has just taken her advocacy for understanding a step further by encouraging US President Barack Obama to end bullying. The Born this Way singer waived her usual fee when she attended an exclusive Obama-fundraising event last Sunday. She pleaded with the president to do something about schoolyard discrimination, referencing Jamey Rodemeyer and reading a letter from a fan about another bullying victim.
are more than twice as likely to be prone to suicide. Considering how little education or guidance children are given on how to treat and accept LGBT peers, these findings aren’t shocking. They’re just sad. Because being gay is not what puts a person at higher risk, it is the victimisation of gay students that does it. In other words, it is the actions of others. Anderson Cooper has created a Facebook campaign titled ‘Stop
in such a public way. Jamey Rodemeyer’s death came just days before the anniversary of Tyler’s; two boys, two completely unnecessary losses of life. This is what it’s taken for people to finally realise that we can’t let this happen- that we need to learn from these terrible tragedies. Although it’s too late to help Jamey and Tyler, it’s not too late to reach out to the millions of LGBT students who are currently at the receiving end of hatred, cruelty and misunderstanding. Lady Gaga, Jamey’s ultimate idol and advocate for the LGBT community, dedicated a recent concert performance to the fallen 14-year-old: “Jamey, I know you’re looking down on us and you’re not a victim, you’re a lesson to all of us.” It’s true that Jamey is – and must be – a lesson to us all. But he was also a victim, he was persecuted and in the end he simply couldn’t rise above it.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper has also been personally moved by Jamey’s death. He spoke out against gay bullying on his show AC360, calling the torment “heartbreaking to imagine” and replaying Jamey’s YouTube video submission to the ‘It Gets Better’ project. Cooper also called out Kentucky lawmaker Mike Harmon as well as other anti-gay activists who have brushed off concerns around bullying and have actually opposed antibullying/anti-prejudice movements. What was most pertinent though was when Cooper pointed out the fact that gay slurs seem to be “the one derogatory term that teachers still kind of accept or just ignore”. “I mean, if someone was using the ‘N’ word, they would be hauled in front of the principal’s office or talked to, but someone calling, you know, the ‘F’ word, they get a pass,” he said. Research has found that gay youth
bullying – speak up’ which allows people to ‘pledge’ to speak up. It’s a start, but it’s not solving the problem. It’s going to be hard to stamp out bullying until we manage to stamp out hate. Until then, we need to become better listeners. We need to teach the next generations a better way. We need to learn from people like Jamey Rodemeyer and Tyler Clementi. One of Jamey’s final posts on Facebook was a chilling reminder of what we all need to do, especially when we get caught up in our own lives. It was a lyric from a Lady Gaga song: “Don’t forget me when I come crying to heaven’s door.” So for Jamey, and all the others out there, let’s not forget.
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