Performance artist Lady Gaga is calling on the government to make bullying a federal offense.
Reacting to the recent suicide of bullied gay Buffalo teen Jamey Rodemeyer, the 25-year-old New Yorker tweeted Wednesday, “Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 yrs old, took his life because of bullying. Bullying must become be [sic] illegal. It is a hate crime.”
Linking to the late boy’s “It Gets Better” YouTube video, which encourages viewers to love themselves and ignore the haters, Lady Gaga said she’s been sobbing, musing, and shouting since the tormented 14-year-old’s Sunday death.
“The past days I’ve spent reflecting, crying, and yelling,” Lady Gaga tweeted. “I have so much anger. It is hard to feel love when cruelty takes someones life.”
Before taking his life at the beginning of this week, Rodemeyer blogged about wanting to see his deceased great-grandmother and thanked Lady Gaga, to whom he’d referred in his summer YouTube clip.
The “Born This Way” singer tweeted that she will meet with the president about the issue of bullying and try to create a law as a tribute to Rodemeyer.
“I am meeting with our President,” Lady Gaga wrote. “I will not stop fighting. This must end. Our generation has the power to end it. Trend it #MakeALawForJamey.”
During his short time on earth, Rodemeyer made no secret of the harassment he endured. Earlier this month, he wrote on his blog, “I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. What do I have to do so people will listen to me?”
According to the Buffalo News, Rodemeyer’s friends and family members knew that the teenager was an easy target for bullies and known to talk about suicide. A year ago, Rodemeyer made a Formspring account and received anonymous cyberbully posts from rotten kids.
One swipe against Rodemeyer read, “JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!”
An equally callous, twisted message read, “I wouldn’t care if you died. No one would. So just do it 🙂 It would make everyone WAY more happier!”
Rodemeyer’s May YouTube video provided a false sense of hope, as he said he’d made progress and learned to love himself.
“It gets better,” Rodemeyer advised bullied YouTube users. “Look at me, I’m doing fine. I went to the Monster ball and now I’m liberated, so it gets better.”
Upon Rodemeyer’s death, his mother Tracy told the Buffalo News that her son seemed to be doing better and less affected by the relentless taunts of peers.
“He used to cry about [bullying], be sad and angry,” Tracy said. “But lately, he’s been blowing them off, or at least we thought he was.”
