Tyler Clementi was a Rutgers University first year who friends describe as "a terrific musician, and a very promising, hardworking young man." But last week, he left a note on his Facebook page: "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry."
What happened to turn this promising, talented violinist into a suicide statistic? The answer may not surprise you.
Shortly before his death, Clementi asked his dorm roommate for privacy. His roommate, Dharun Ravi, consented, but covertly turned on his webcam before leaving. He later tweeted: "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." Two days later, he followed up, "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again." Ravi went on to broadcast the live stream on the internet.
Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, both 18, have been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy. Ravi has also been charged with two more counts of invasion of privacy for taping the second encounter. It is a fourth-degree crime to collect sexual images without consent, and transmitting them is a third-degree crime that could lead to a five year prison sentence.
The whole story makes me sick to my stomach. I can't even begin to imagine the shame, the feelings of over-exposure, that drove Clementi to feel like suicide was his only option. Being videoed in a more socially-acceptible, man-woman encounter would be bad enough, but having your sexuality exposed, being literally dragged out of the closet to hundreds of perfect strangers, is enough to make anyone feel as though there's no good way out. It is a stark reminder of how prevalent bullying is and how dire the consequences can be.
My heart goes out to the friends and family of this young man whose life was taken far too soon by a society that saw his personal life as a side-show prank, an entity to be hunted and exposed, instead of a human being deserving of privacy, respect, and love.
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