Bullied



This month, we have seen another teen take his own life because of bullying.  Jamey Rodemeyer was only 14, and talked numerous times of the hardship that bullies put on him because he was gay.  He blogged about his struggles, and showed inspiration towards one individual that is now making a nationwide effort to make bullying illegal.  And once again the question arises; when will people accept each other and end this hate?

Jamey made his troubles known through his blog, a lot during the past month that indicated that things were wrong.  "I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens...What do I have to do so people will listen to me?"  and "No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you're the ones calling me and tearing me down."  He posted alot of lyrics before posting two final messages, one talking about seeing his dead great-grandmother, and thanking Lady Gaga.  He was found dead outside from suicide later. 

Many have mourned for his loss, his mother saying, "He touched so many hearts, so many people...I didn't realize how many people he touched. He was the sweetest, kindest kid you'd ever know. He would give all his heart to you before he gave any to himself."  A friend named Olivia said, "He was always putting people first...He always wanted other people to smile, even on the worst of his days."

But some have made it know that they were not a fan of Jamey, posting hate messages on his Formspring account a year ago: "JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE" and "I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!"  Many more messages were on there, but a lot of his friends went to his defense. 

This isn't the first time this has been a case.  We saw the tragic suicide of Tyler Clementi close to a year ago, which brought much uproar towards the haters in America.  Many have followed since then, showing the severety of the issue.  And at the same time of Clementi's death, people such as Bishop Eddie Long were making headlines, such as their hypocritcal claims agains Gay Marriage.  You can read all about that in my previous posts: Outrage and Sickened.

But this week, the person that Jamey thanked for everything is now fighting back against bullying.  Lady Gaga was one of the last to hear from him, with a tweet saying, "@ladygaga bye mother monster, thank you for all you have done, paws up forever."

Lady GaGa has stormed Twitter, tweeting to her 13 million followers: "The past days I've spent reflecting, crying, and yelling. I have so much anger. It is hard to feel love when cruelty takes someones life...Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 yrs old, took his life because of bullying. http://tinyurl.com/6e7n49s. Bullying must become be illegal. It is a hate crime...I am meeting with our President. I will not stop fighting. This must end. Our generation has the power to end it." 

The web has been on fire ever since, with many joining the fight with Lady Gaga to end bullying and make it illegal.  It makes me sick that people think that they can say whatever they want to whoever they want, and not to expect it to impact them in a bad way.  And I hope that with the anger and sadness we feel, we can all join together and make sure that this doesn't happen again.  I pledge to join the fight...will you?

-Tyler