Lady Gaga mourns teen fan's suicide, calls on Obama to institute an anti-bullying law
Lady Gaga was so upset about the news of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer taking his own life, she has tweeted her plans to meet with President Obama about ending bullying.
Rodemeyer was a self-identified gay teenager from Buffalo, NY, who killed himself this past weekend after being bullied at school and online.
Rodemeyer had previously been trying to help other bullied youth, posting an “It Gets Better” video, which discussed bullying as well as his idol, Lady Gaga. “She makes me so happy,” he says in the video, embedded below. “She lets me know that I was born this way…. All you have to do is hold your head up and you’ll go far…Look at me. I’m doing fine. I went to the Monster Ball and now I’m liberated.”
His final entry on his Tumblr page offered thanks to Lady Gaga, writing, “Thank you Lady Gaga. For everything you have done for me. Paws up forever.”
Gaga was clearly devastated by this news, tweeting, “The past days I’ve spent reflecting, crying, and yelling. I have so much anger. It is hard to feel love when cruelty takes someones life.”
She later tweeted, “Bullying must become be illegal. It is a hate crime,” and “I am meeting with our President. I will not stop fighting. This must end. Our generation has the power to end it. Trend it #MakeALawForJamey.”
It is currently unclear whether or not President Obama has agreed to meet with Lady Gaga, or if she would just like to. He certainly should consider it. For better or for worse, Lady Gaga has aligned herself strongly with the anti-bullying movement and the It Gets Better project.
With the 2012 campaign season well underway, candidates have been using anti-gay rhetoric to rally certain groups of people. How many teens have to die before adults finally get the message that words have consequences? The President should step up and set an example, and if that involves meeting with a singer teens idolize, who has spoken often about her own experiences with bullying, that may be a good first step.
Readers, do you agree?
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