Stop Bullying, Start Intervening
Tyler Clementi’s story lives on at Rutgers University seven years after he committed suicide for being harassed about his sexuality. The story of how homophobia led him to a untimely death is not news to anyone, but the ways in which we can prevent more cases like this might be. While marriage equality was put into law by the Supreme Court, it’s not wise to assume that the LGBTQ+ community is finished with the fight.
The Tyler Clementi Foundation exists at Rutgers University with the aim of providing a “safe environment for all individuals to thrive” because they understand that everyone is not treated equal. The foundation focuses on ending bullying and providing a space for students of all backgrounds to unite and support each other. They are even in the midst of trying to pass legislation, The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act. You can help by contacting your representative, and can learn more about the act here.
A time of intimacy caught on camera by Clementi’s roommate was publicized before Clementi was ever ready to come out. This led to the 18-year-old Rutgers student to commit suicide in 2010. Since then, there have been many battles won by the LGBTQ+ community but the amount of hate out there is still too much to allow. There isn’t much point in thinking of what could have been or what should have happened with Tyler Clementi, but there is a lesson to learn from it. Each of us can intervene and change a life for the better. Whether it be someone you are close to or a stranger in public, we should all feel powerful enough with our words to stop horrible actions. You can also call on an educator or advisor if in a school setting or even the police if you have to in order to provide support for the people that we know are hurting.
While the country might have become more lenient, it has also become more violent. In order to combat it, we don’t have to fight back physically, but be there for everyone emotionally. You need to intervene and do it efficiently (and hopefully with more people by your side). Intervention has become a huge combat against the prejudice in the United States and should continue as such. Videos go viral of people defending others on subways, most recently a woman named Tracy Tong defending a Muslim woman, and they remind us that we need to stick together to prevent hate crimes from escalating. This is something we should all be encouraged to do. Intervention can save lives and by following the example of Tracy Tong on the subway. If you watch the video below you can see that she is very assertive in the message she wants to get across but she is also respectful.
The world has become desensitized to so much hate that the speech might not surprise any of us anymore, but we can’t let it go on. The Tyler Clementi Foundation is providing support for those who who want a safe space to exist in, and the positive ideologies of acceptance begin to spread through the youngest generations. There is hope in the world even if it doesn’t feel like there it is, but change comes from us and what we choose to do about all the negativity.
