“You’re Better Off Dead!” as students chanted the night of his wake at a homecoming dance. Jamey Rodemeyer was found dead in his yard September 18, 2011. Over the past year his mother reports he was questioning his sexuality. He was a victim of gay bashing, hateful slurs, and bullied at school and online through social media because he was gay. On the Today show his parents told Ann Curry, Jamey did not talk much about the bullying with his family. Jamey’s way of dealing with the bullying was to seek support & help on websites which gave tips on bullying. He also attempted to help others with anti-bullying messages he made on posted on YouTube.

Jamey was a Lady Gaga fan and identified with the message in some of her songs. On the day he died he tweeted Lady Gaga “@ladygaga bye mother monster, thank you for all you have done, paws up forever.” Shortly after his suicide, Lady Gaga dedicated a rendition of one of her songs to his memory. Lady Gaga, after Jamey’s suicide, spoke to President Barack Obama at a fundraiser in California about his anti-bullying campaign. She tweeted “Bullying must become illegal. It is a hate crime.”

Tracy Rodemeyer reported her daughter attended her homecoming dance right after Jamey’s wake to be with friends for support and to help her grieve.

“She was having a great time, and all of a sudden a Lady Gaga song came on, and they all started chanting for Jamey, all of his friends. Then the bullies that put him into this situation started chanting, ‘You’re better off dead!’ and ‘We’re glad you’re dead!’ and things like that. My daughter came home all upset. It was supposed to be a time for her to grieve and have fun with her friends, and it turned into bullying even after he’s gone.”

 

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