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09/30/2010
Some days just aren't made for dancing
Say what you want about Ms. Degeneres. But she uses her platform better than just about anyone who has such a prominent one:
I am devastated over the death of 18 year old Tyler Clementi. If you don't know, Tyler was a bright student at Rutgers University whose life was senselessly cut short. He was outed as being gay on the internet and he killed himself.
Something must be done. This month alone, there have been a shocking number of news stories about teens who have been teased and bullied and then committed suicide. Like 13 year old Seth Walsh in Tehachapi, California. 13 year old Asher Brown in Cypress, Texas and 15 year old Billy Lucas in Greensberg, Indiana. This needs to be a wake up call to everyone that teenage bullying and teasing is an epidemic in this country, and the death rate is climbing.
Keep reading: It's Time to End Teenage Bullying [Ellen]
**MORE from Ellen:
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*Now on the flip side: For a look at what we're up against, check out this disgusting blog entry. This guy has a regular column at conservative news site WorldNetDaily:
It was obvious from the start that the orientationally-challenged activists would attempt to blame [Tyler] Clementi's death on his roommate. But the surreptitious filming of sexual activity, while an obvious breach of etiquette as well as the law in some states, is neither uncommon nor tantamount to attempting to destroy someone's life. Nor should the online streaming be considered anything but a joke; American Pie is a comedy, not a horror flick, after all. The problem is not that American university campuses are intolerant of the orientationally challenged, as the subtext of the media coverage suggests, but rather that they are much too tolerant.
It is obvious that Clementi didn't kill himself simply because his actions were made public; as a musician, no doubt he had been filmed before and some of those films may have even been put online. He killed himself because he could not live with the shame of knowing that everyone would be aware of his submission to what he apparently believed to be evil desires. While giving in to our desire for evil is something that we all do from time to time, it is also true that some desires happen to be more shameful or humiliating than others. For example, a man's desire for his neighbor's wife is sinful, but few consider it to be as appalling as his desire for his neighbor's child.
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And that is why his suicide poses a problem for the "morality is a human construct" crowd. Despite literal decades of preaching about the morality of homosexuality, despite the pansexual propaganda of the public and private schools, the knowledge that what he was doing was shameful and wrong still managed to penetrate Mr. Clementi's mind. A normal man being forced to confront his immorality in such a public way might have reacted with anger, irritation, embarrassment, or amusement, but only one who is both psychologically disturbed and appalled by his own actions will destroy himself over it.
FULL PIECE: Gay rights killed Clementi [Vox Popoli]
