Buffalo, New York Gay Teen Kills Himself After Years of Bullying

The celebratory mood of today as DADT dies and is relegated and thrown on the trash heap of history is muted by the news that 14 year old Jamey Rodemeyer (pictured at right) killed himself last weekend after enduring what his parents say was years of anti-gay bullying. Bullying supported and given the appearance of acceptability by self-enriching hate merchants like Maggie Gallagher, William Donohue (both Gallagher and Donohue rake in over $350,000 a year peddling anti-gay hatred), Victoria Cobb, Tony Perkins, Pope Benedict XVI and others who make a mockery of Christianity. As a parent, I cannot imagine the grief of his parents. And quite candidly, I feel immeasurable rage. Rage that a young life was made a living Hell all because of religious beliefs that I am increasingly coming to see as mere myths or at best seriously manipulated and re-written stories of Christ's followers. Instead of love of others, these bastards enshrine hatred and revel in and enrich themselves by the denigration of others. This reality leaves me feeling physical nauseous. First, here are highlights from WIVB-TV 4:

A young life has been cut tragically short by suicide. Now, two grief stricken parents are vowing to carry on their son's message. Jamey Rodemeyer's parents believe years of bullying drove their son to suicide. The Williamsville North freshman took his life Sunday, he was only 14 years old.

Jamey Rodemeyer posted a message online hoping that others would be inspired by his struggle with bullying. A part of the message reads, “That's all you have to do. Just love yourself and you're set. And I promise you, it'll get better.”

Soon after coming home from a family camping trip, Jamey was found dead Sunday. His parents say he was always under pressure because of struggles with his sexuality.

Jamey’s mother Tracy Rodemeyer said, "So he hung around with the girls a lot, so then the teasing started happening like 'Oh you're such a girl or you're gay or whatever and that bothered him for many years."

Buffalo News has additional coverage and here are some excerpts:

In the months prior, he routinely blogged about school bullying and thoughts of suicide in between upbeat posts about his pop star idol Lady Gaga and the ordinary types of teen rants typical for kids his age.

On Sept. 8, he wrote: "No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you're the ones calling me [gay slur] and tearing me down."

He put up a separate post that day letting everyone know it was National Suicide Prevention Week.

Then he posted the lyrics to a song by Hollywood Undead:
I just wanna say good bye, disappear with no one knowing
I don't wanna live this lie, smiling to the world unknowing
I dont want you to try, you've done enough to keep me going
I'll be fine, I'll be fine, I'll be fine for the very last time.

Issues of bullying and even suicide talk were not new to many of Jamey's family or friends. They were common topics for him and seemed to ramp up to an extreme level when other students started making taunts with gay references to Jamey about 12 months ago on his Formspring account, which permits anonymous posts.

"JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!" read one post.

Another read: "I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!"

Personally, I hope that Maggie Gallagher, Tony Perkins, and so many others who have worked to give anti-gay bigotry respectability (and all too often enriched themselves in the process) have earned themselves a special place in Hell where they will be forced to experience they misery that they have helped to inflict on so many others. They have rivers of blood on their hands. As I have noted before, the most tawdry whore is the height of virtue compared to these foul individuals.