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Four months ago, Jamey Rodemeyer of
Williamsville, NY, made an “It Gets
Better” video, usually something done by self-actualized LGBT adults
who are happy with how they’ve turned out. But Rodemeyer was just 14 and in his
video he admits his schoolmates often called him a “faggot” and that anonymous
users had been posting vicious comments on his Formspring account—hateful
messages including “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!”
At one point Rodemeyer looks into the
camera and says, “I just wanna tell you that it does get better because”—then
he looks away and continues—”when I came out for being bi, I got so much
support from my friends and it made me feel so secure.”
Near the end of his video, he
repeats, “It gets better” for the third time before adding,
“Look at me. I went
to the Monster’s Ball and now I’m liberated. So, it gets better.”
The young
Gaga fan then makes a heart shape with his hands and the recording ends.
He uploaded the video on May 4. This past Sunday, he hung
himself in front of his parent’s house.
In the month leading up to his
suicide, Rodemeyer became a prolific
Tumblr poster, regularly uploading images of Lady Gaga alongside the
occasional image of muscle-bound jocks. But there were signs he was suffering:
On September 8, he posted, “No one in my school cares about preventing suicide,
while you’re the ones calling me ‘faggot’ and tearing me down” and he put up a
separate post letting everyone know it was National Suicide Prevention Week.
The next day, he blogged,
“I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. What do I have to do so
people will listen to me?” He followed it up with lyrics to the song “The Loss” by
Hollywood Undead:
I just
wanna say good bye, disappear with no one knowing
I don’t wanna live this lie, smiling to the world unknowing
I dont want you to try, you’ve done enough to keep me going
I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine for the very last time
I don’t wanna live this lie, smiling to the world unknowing
I dont want you to try, you’ve done enough to keep me going
I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine for the very last time
On Saturday night, he posted a lyric
from Lady Gaga’s “The Queen” on his
Facebook page:
“Don’t forget me when I come crying
to heaven’s door.”
Then he hung himself. He had just
started as a freshman in Williamsville North High School.
I remember when Nancy Reagan came out with her policy of telling children to "Just say No!" when it came to drugs. A lot of people laughed at it and thought it was ridiculous and short sighted. I thought it was perfectly fine as long as people took it for what it was, a beginning and not a be all and end all.
ReplyDelete"It get's better" is also a fine statement but to rely on it to be the panacea for all things harsh and horrible would be a mistake as young Jamey found. Sure it's nice for a victim to be able to be responsible for their own destiny, but it's up to us as a society to prevent others from controlling what that destiny may be.
aaawww this made my eyes water up some... I remember back in 1st grade, there was this boy in my class that used to pee on himself all day long. And of all the kids that made fun of him, I clearly recall making his life a living hell. I haven't seen him since Elementary School but to this very day, I feel so terrible for it.
ReplyDelete*sighs* Nobody deserves to feel like a lesser human being. Nobody.
--Cogito
CURIOUS: YOU CAN STAND ON MY SOAPBOX ANYTIME! I LOVE THAT I PUT THINGS OUT THERE & FOLKS LIKE YOU ENHANCE IT BETTER THAN I EVER COULD.
ReplyDeleteCOGITO: NOBODY DESERVES TO BE TREATED LESS THAN HUMAN. I WAS RECOUNTING THE OTHER DAY HOW WE TREATED AN OLD CLASSMATE OF MINE & I WISH I COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND APOLOGIZE FOR NOT SPEAKING UP FOR HIM. HE IS STILL AMONG US, I JUST 'FRIEND' HIM ON FACEBOOK SO WILL USE THAT AVENUE TO LET HIM KNOW HOW I FEEL.
ReplyDeleteMECHADUDE: SAD DOESN'T BEGIN TO DESCRIBE THIS NEWS.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Curious. Ever since the launch of the It Gets Better campaign, I had mixed feelings about it. Yes, it's fine to tell those who are suffering that "it gets better," but that statement can't be taken as a universal end all be all to the problem. Whatever the "it" is can affect a person severely, especially at a young age.
ReplyDeleteI hate that this has happened, and I wish there was more that I could do. We just have to continue to reach out to those in need and be persistent.
BAMA: WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO REACH OUT, THAT'S ALL WE HAVE RIGHT NOW...
ReplyDeleteI wish I would've known him.. I would've told him there was a much bigger world out there and just because those people are ignorant doesn't mean that everyone else is. Rest In Peace Jamey
ReplyDeleteSWEET: BUT YOU DO KNOW HIM, HE IS ME, HE IS YOU!
ReplyDelete