Lady Gaga Seeks Obama Gay Bullying Meet; Will She Get It

Lady Gaga expressed her heartbreak and anger Wednesday over the death of Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old high school student who took his own life Monday after years of being bullied. The singer vowed to continue fighting to make bullying a crime.


“The past days I've spent reflecting, crying, and yelling. I have so much anger,” the singer tweeted. “It is hard to feel love when cruelty takes someone’s life.”


Jamey’s mother told the Buffalo News that her son was targeted because he questioned his sexuality. His classmates referred to him using gay slurs, she said. Anonymous online commenters on his Formspring profile told him no one would care if he died.


While the pain from the constant bullying was evident in his personal blog, it was also clear that he proudly considered himself a Little Monster.


When Jamey came out to friends this May, he created an “It Gets Better” video where he thanked Gaga for supporting the gay community. (Gaga, who fought for the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and sings the acceptance anthem “Born This Way,” has long been an advocate for gay rights.)


Gaga plans to attend an Obama fundraiser next week but no private meeting has been scheduled, a Democratic official told the Christian Science Monitor. The official spoke anonymously.


Gaga, real name as Stefani Germanotti, made gay bullying a cause célèbre with her song “Born This Way.”


The issue came into focus when Jamey Rodemeyer, 14, committed suicide Sunday outside his home in Williamsville, N.Y., after complaining of relentless bullying at school.


Rodemeyer had frequently blogged about constant homophobic name calling and online bullying by class mates. He even made references to suicide, in an apparent desperate cry for help.


The youth had been participating in the “It Gets Better Project,” which is meant to give hope to gay teens. He also praised Lady Gaga for her efforts to halt bullying.


Gaga expressed sadness over Twitter Wednesday about the suicide and vowed to take her campaign to the president.


Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) teens are five times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexuals, but a supportive community can make a difference in their lives, according to a new study published in the latest issue of medical journal Pediatrics.


The study found that living in areas with a high proportion of gay and lesbian couples, and attending schools with gay-straight alliances and anti-discrimination policies, were less likely to attempt suicide, it found.


The finding is “a call to action in providing a roadmap for how we can begin to reduce suicide in LGB youth,” Mark Hatzenbuehler, the study’s author from Columbia University in New York, told Reuters.


Police are investigating the case to determine if criminal charges are warranted in Rodemeyer’s death.


New York, like most states doesn’t have an anti-bullying law, but bullies could be charged with harassment or aggravated harassment, or a hate crime, according to police.


The White House held a conference on bullying prevention in March. Some 13 million students, or about a third of those attending school, may be victims, according to the Monitor.


Obama said then he hoped to “dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up. It’s not.”