Singer Ricky Martin has joined Lady
Gaga in honoring the memory Jamey Rodemeyer.
Rodemeyer is the 14-year-old
Buffalo-area teen bullied to death for coming out gay. More than 500
people showed up to pay their respects to Rodemeyer at his at funeral
held over the weekend. The Williamsville North High School freshman
was found dead outside his home last Sunday.
In a YouTube video posted in May,
Rodemeyer said Lady Gaga had inspired him. “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.”
Martin, who came out gay in his 2010
memoir Me, changed his Twitter profile picture to an image of
Rodemeyer in that YouTube clip.
“THIS NEEDS TO STOP NOW,” Martin
tweeted to his nearly 4 million followers. “HOW MANY LIVES LOST
BEFORE SOMEONE LISTENS.”
During a Saturday performance in Las
Vegas, Lady
Gaga paid tribute to Rodemeyer.
“Bullying is for losers,” she told
the audience.
(Related: Lady
Gaga to fight for Jamey Rodemeyer's memory.)