Bullied Teen Who Made "It Gets Better" Video Commits Suicide
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This morning we celebrated the end of one form of discrimination with the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” but sadly we’re ending the day with a reminder that kids are still suffering terrible harassment for being gay. This weekend, just a few months after he filmed a video for the “It Gets Better” project, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer of Buffalo, NY was found dead from an apparent suicide. Earlier this month 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?”
The Buffalo News reports that there were many people trying to help Jamey, but apparently it still wasn’t enough. His mother says he’d been questioning his sexuality for some time, and his classmates had been harassing him for years. Tracy Rodemeyer says her son, “Has had issues since fifth grade. He had suicidal tendencies back then.” Things got particularly bad a year ago when he created a Formspring account and started receiving hateful messages: