On Sunday, hundreds of people attended vigils for Tyler Clementi at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ and in New York City. Clementi was the 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman who jumped to his death on September 22 off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate secretly recorded and live-streamed his sexual encounter with another man.
The Rutgers vigil was attended by nearly 1000 people and included 30 minutes of silence, reports the Star Ledger. Rutgers University President Richard McCormick called the vigil "an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the values of civility, dignity, compassion and respect for one another."
"It's been a rough week, but it was a beautiful night of healing and compassion," says Rev. Kevin E. Taylor, the New Brunswwick-based pastor, gay activist and author seen in the above photo. "It was necessary to show the campus and the kids that we're there for them."
At the same time across the Hudson River: New York Gov. David A. Paterson and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is openly lesbian, were the keynote speakers at a rally in Manhattan's Washington Square Park. Paterson vowed to pass legislation against cyberbullying and Quinn urged the crowd to "send a message to those ignorant individuals that they're not in the mainstream."
Two Rutgers students are charged with invasion of privacy after they allegedly activated a webcam in the dorm room and broadcast Tyler Clementi's sexual encounter with another young man. The roommate, 18-year-old Dharun Ravi, and 18-year-old Molly Wei are each charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for the September 19 broadcast. Hate crime charges are now being considered against the Rutgers students.
Watch video from both vigils AFTER THE JUMP ...
It was encouraging to see how many people came out in the rain last night to join us in Washington Square Park to remember those who couldn't take the torment any longer, and ended their lives. Even through my sadness and fury towards people who still think it's OK to ridicule, bully, and harass others because they are gay or lesbian, I was uplifted by the presence of so many members of our LGBT community, who came out to say "nobody should die because they are gay or lesbian".
I stood in the park, surrounded by friends, and listened to the words of our Speaker and Governor as they decried these suicides, and promised to work even harder to make it clear that homophobic bullying of our precious gay youth is unacceptable. However, I couldn't help thinking that their words were spoken in a state and city where it's still illegal for gays abd lesbians to marry, and in a country where our military thinks it's a disgrace for gays to wear their country's uniform. Our leaders give us messages of support at vigils and rallies like this one, but until official givernment policy and law embraces and includes the LGBT community, they will be mixed messages, at best. Until we live in an environment where we are understood and included in all areas of human affairs, we will be assembling for more vigils and rallies in the future.
Posted by: Nathan James | 04 October 2010 at 12:45
Very well said @Nathan James.
Posted by: JBK! | 05 October 2010 at 08:43