Better yet
Tyler Clementi was an 18- year old university student. He played the cello, and from all accounts, was a normal Rutgers University kid interested in fooling around with other boys. You see, Tyler was gay, and young, so he was at that stage where life is full of romantic possibilities and sex is a powerful rush.
But Tyler didn’t know he had a problem: his roommate, a wealthy Indian snob who denigrated Tyler’s modest background and made fun of his sexuality. This was Dharun Ravi, whom fate spit out to be his dormitory roommate in their freshman year. Dharun didn’t care about Tyler’s privacy. He had no respect for Tyler’s desire to spend some quality time with another guy, and so Dharun thought of something which struck him as quite funny.
Wouldn’t it be great if he could sneak a camera into their dorm room, wait for the right time for Tyler to start getting it on with his partner, and then beam their encounter to all the world to see? What a lark! And so Dharun did just that, broadcasting Tyler’s private moments to the entire virtual world ( this, after tweeting about it to alert his followers).
Three days later, Tyler was dead. He had jumped off a bridge, leaving behind the unimaginably twisted world that had seen him at his most vulnerable. As well as, thankfully, the man who shared the first and last year of his college life, Dharun.
Dharun Ravi now faces a 15-count indictment, a mish mash of criminal charges that could possibly be leveled against him, including trying to tamper evidence and invasion of privacy. Another young student, Molly Wei, was also charged with invasion of privacy, but she has agreed to testify about how this sorry state of affairs came about in exchange for the dropping of charges against her. Oh, and three years of community service, and strict attendance in programs on cyber- bullying and alternate lifestyles.
The most important crime that Dharun is charged with, however, is the hate crime. Prosecutors in New Jersey have taken a very dim view of his “prank,” and have proceeded to accuse him of acting on his hate and bullying Tyler.
Dharun pled not guilty. And it is now time for the prosecution to present its evidence. Whether they are able to secure a conviction will remain to be seen, but many useful lessons come our way, not the least of it being that Tyler’s life was not wasted, as it has left a mark in this world. Specially for other gay teens whom, if not for the attention that his death drew to gay bashing and bullying, are equally prone to suicide.
Tyler’s life, and death, drew a lot of people and attention. An outpouring of support flooded out, galvanizing parents and activists and ordinary people to act and let teens know that there exists a world, a future, out there for them, that the bullying they face eventually, and mercifully, ends. Several celebrities released videos on the theme, “it gets better,” the message assuring teens that this horrible environment they find themselves in, whether school or family or friends, is just a phase.
It does get better. Whether or not Dharun is convicted, life will become better for gay teens. So long as we have prosecutors who are willing to use the full force of the law to bring cases like this, so long as we have concerned citizens who speak out and refuse to tolerate discrimination, so long as we have lawmakers willing to bring measures to fight this discrimination, then life should become better.
And it will.
‘It does get better. Whether or not Dharun is convicted, life will become better for gay teens. So long as we have prosecutors who are willing to use the full force of the law to bring cases like this, so long as we have concerned citizens who speak out and refuse to tolerate discrimination…’