Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old boy from Williamsville, NY, took his life Sunday after what his parents claim was years of bullying because of struggles with his sexuality.
His parents, Tracy and Tim Rodemeyer, say that Jamey faced bullies for years, though things intensified in middle school…
According to NBC, the Rodemeyers had gone to the school about the problem in the past. Jamey even sought counseling to learn to deal with the problem, but it seems it wasn’t enough.
While they say their son seemed happy in the days leading up to the tragedy, his “It Gets Better” YouTube posting from May includes details about how intense the bullying was.
The kind of thing that helps to make it happen.
SANTORUM: I would say any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military. The fact they are making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we are going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege to, and removing don’t ask don’t tell. I think tries to inject social policy into the military. And the military’s job is to do one thing: to defend our country…
Rick Santorum calls it a “special privilege” to be protected from dismissal on the grounds of sexual orientation, as if dismissal on the grounds of sexual orientation were a perfectly reasonable and acceptable social practice.
Notice the fumble. Notice the midair correction – he was going to say “and give them a special privilege to…fuck each other like the disgusting depraved spawn of Satan they are” but realized that that might get him into deep waters, so he pulled the second cord on his chute. But he’d already said it, anyway. The dog whistle was already out there. He made it sound as if the point of ending DADT were to encourage gay soldiers to have sex while in the military – on duty, presumably, and anywhere and everywhere. He made it sound as if the point were to give gay soldiers “a special privilege” to interrupt doing their jobs in order to hump each other whenever they felt like it.
Millions of high school bullies are indebted to Rick Santorum.
Williamsville is my neck of the woods. Its a weird disconnect: Buffalo itself has the reputation of being a very liberal, if dying, city. Whereas Erie County is decidedly red.
Williamsville is a wealthy suburb, its school system frequently earning the “best of” in the whole area.
I’m surprised in the “no, I’m not, but I wish I was” way that this was allowed to go on, and for so long, there.
Santorum sez:
Well, if it’s not an issue, then there’s no reason to kick gays out of the military, as was the policy for many years, right, Frothy Mix? If sex shouldn’t be an issue, why is the repeal of DADT a problem for you and your base?
Riiight. As all straight soldiers from time immemorial have done.
(Are married hetero soldiers with families supposed to keep the existence of spouses and children a big dark secret?)
This sounds like a magnificent way to help reduce stress.
I fully agree, Mr. Santorum. Which is why I’m certain you won’t let social policy get in the way of providing the same medical coverage and other benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples to gay couples. Like you said, our job is the defense of this nation and it makes no sense to deprive one enlisted man or woman what you freely give another based on government pettiness.