Friday, February 19, 2016

Tyler Clementi, a gay student bullied for his sexual orientation





The article by Bates about bullying and sexual orientation made me recall the suicide of Tyler Clementi at Rutgers University, which received national attention. Tyler Clementi was a gay student and his roommate allegedly streamed video of him having sex with a man via Twitter through his roommate's webcam on his computer. His roommate did this on two occasions, invading Clementi's personal space and not receiving his consent to videotape his "sexual encounters." His roommate's response to the "sexual encounter" on Twitter was "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay." For Clementi's second "sexual encounter" with a man, his roommate tweeted: "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9.30 and 12. Yes it's happening again." Bates said the number one problem between bullying between the LBGQT community and suicide is attitudes toward sexual orientation. Clementi's roommate did not have a positive attitude or respect toward Clementi's sexual orientation in his preference toward men. Clementi's roommate was not open or welcoming to Clementi's sexual orientation, but rather was bullying him and harassing him by streaming the videos online for the public to see. This story is relevant to our class, because as we continue to study gender, we become more aware of the discriminations people of the LBGQT community face. People of this community are not always provided the protection and safety from those who do not have open attutides to their sexual orientation. As a niece to a Uncle who is happily married to his partner and who is a wonderful father to his son, I feel bullying should not be addressed by teaching people the signs or symptoms of someone who may commit suicide. I agree with Bates and I feel bullying should be addressed by affirming attitudes. A person does not necessarily need to accept someone's sexual orientation, but a person should at least respect it.

Link to article:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/30/tyler-clementi-gay-student-suicide

2 comments:

  1. Bullying in no way, shape, or form is okay. Just because a person may be different than whatever the "norm" is, does not mean they should get mistreated or tortured because of it. I have noticed that the majority of the bullying cases that catch the national spotlight happen to be those concerning the LGBT community. Even if the practices of the LGBT community go against somebody's religious beliefs, moral beliefs, or lifestyle does not give that particular person the right to be a bully.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so happy you posted this article. I think so much of bullying comes back to education. I've seen bullying in all shapes and forms, and I think we are systemically lacking on a much deeper level. Schools need to be talking about bullying in the classroom that includes more than one seminar in middle school. I think that LGBTQ needs to be normalized and defined for children so that they do not feel like it is an 'othered' group that is not around them every day. We cannot stop bullying against the LGBTQ community if people don't even know what being a part of the LGBTQ community means in a holistic manner.

    ReplyDelete