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Teen Who Recorded "It Gets Better" Video Found Dead Of Apparent Suicide
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 21, 2011
Modified Sep 21, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 21, 2011
Modified Sep 21, 2011
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A 14-year-old boy from Buffalo who recorded an "It Gets Better" video earlier this year was found dead of an apparent suicide. Jamey Rodemeyer had written extensively online about being bullied at school. "I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. What do I have to do so people will listen to me?" he wrote on his Tumblr on September 9th. You can watch his tragic "It Gets Better" video below:
A year ago, the online bullying of Jamey got particularly intense, and classmates started leaving anonymous homophobic messages on his Formspring account such as: “JAMIE [sic] IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!” Another read: "I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!" Jamey made his contribution to Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" anti-bullying campaign in May, saying: "People would just keep sending me hate, telling me that gay people go to hell. Just love yourself and you're set. And I promise you, it'll get better." His video has now been viewed over 100,000 times.
On Sunday, he published his last two entries on his Tumblr: one was a message saying he wanted to see his great grandmother, who had recently passed away. The other was a message to his hero, Lady Gaga: "Thank you Lady Gaga. For everything you have done for me. Paws up forever."
Jamey's parents said he was routinely harassed in school as well because of his sexuality, but he constantly denied anything was wrong to them. "He used to cry about it, be sad and angry. But lately, he's been blowing them off, or at least we thought he was," said his mother Tracy Rodemeyer. She met with some of his friends at Williamsville North on Monday, and was amazed by the outpouring of grief: "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."
Today is the one-year-anniversary of the start of the "It Gets Better" video project, which was started by Savage and his husband Terry Miller as a response to the suicides of teenagers who were bullied because of their perceived homosexuality. Tomorrow is the one-year-anniversary of the death of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide after he realized that his homosexual encounter had been broadcast via webcam allegedly by his roommate.
Tagged
buffalo
bullying
death
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it gets better
suicide
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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