Singer Lady Gaga has vowed to keep the
memory of Jamey Rodemeyer alive through anti-gay bullying
legislation.
Jamey is the 14-year-old Buffalo junior
high school student who committed suicide after being bullied for
coming out gay.
In May, Jamey posted a heartbreaking
YouTube video for the It Gets Project, which reaches out to
struggling gay teens considering suicide. “Lady Gaga, she makes me
so happy, and she lets me know that I was born this way. And that's
my advice to you from her. People are born this way. All you have
to do is hold your head up and you'll go far,” he said in the clip.
“Just love yourself and you're set … It gets better.” (The
video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
The video was a relief for his parents
who saw it as a sign that their son's struggle might be coming to an
end.
On Wednesday, Lady Gaga vowed to push
for a federal anti-bullying law to honor Rodemeyer's memory.
“The past days I've spent reflecting,
crying, and yelling,” she tweeted to her nearly 14 million
followers. “It is hard to feel love when cruelty takes someones
life.”
“Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 yrs old, took
his life because of bullying. Bullying must become be [sic] illegal.
It is a hate crime.”
“I am meeting with our President,”
she added. “I will not stop fighting. This must end. Our
generation has the power to end it. Trend it #MakeALawForJamey.”
President Barack Obama earlier this
year recorded his
own It Gets Better video. The administration on Wednesday and
Thursday is hosting the second annual Federal
Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit. Secretary of Education
Arne Duncan, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius
and Assistant Secretary for the Office for Civil Rights Russlynn Ali
are expected to attend the event.