CNN is reporting (via the Breaking News banner) that a body pulled from the Hudson River has been identified as violinist, Ridgewood resident, and Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi, 18, the victim both of an apparent suicide jump off the George Washington Bridge and of two classmates who broadcast a secretly recorded private sexual encounter over the internet.No words. For a string player:
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Beyond Sad
Dear God:
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4 comments:
Unfortunately, there is a larger national pattern. Please see: http://cath47.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/bullying-harassing-and-beating-queers-in-hopes-of-self-extermination/
Great piece, although horrifying. When, oh when, is this country ever going to grow up?
Duke,
Thanks for the shout out. Bruce Baker has successfully nudged/nagged me into the world of blogging. Obviously, he's a good model as are you.
Bruce is the real deal - I'm just an angry teacher lobbing snark bombs.
What I love about Bruce is that he's an academic who understands that we need researchers out in the real world, affecting policy with well-reasoned research. Too many professors hide in ivy-covered towers and let the world make stupid decision after stupid decision without at least challenging the premises behind those decisions. That cannot continue.
We need more scholars like you and Bruce making your mark in the public discourse. I have no delusions that the gasbags of the world will always listen, but there are many people out there who want to hear the perspective scholars bring to the "real" world.
In any case, the issue you are working in (if your blog is any indication) is extremely important. And it's an area where there has been a sun's worth of heat and next to no light. I will tell you that, as a teacher, we get next to no continuing training on GLBT issues. I worry that too many kids are paying the price for our ignorance. One Tyler Celmenti is too many, but you've already shown he was hardly an isolated case.
So get blogging! You are needed!
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