Lady Gaga's Message to a Canadian School

In a country where bullying is an epidemic, and almost nothing is being done to stop it, isn't it great to know that at least Lady Gaga cares.

Too bad she couldn't send a message to Jamie Hubley and his school in Ottawa.

Before he committed suicide. 

Mitchell Wilson, Jamey Rodemeyer, the Bullies, and Lady Gaga

As you know I hate bullies of all stripes. From Stephen Harper and his thug Cons, to those who bully children for being different or gentle, to those who beat helpless old people in senior's homes.

So you can imagine how I feel about those who bullied and assaulted a disabled boy and drove him to suicide.

“He was never the same after the mugging,” said Mitchell’s father, Craig Wilson, who found his son’s lifeless body on Sept. 6 — a plastic bag tied around the young boy’s head — when he went to wake him up for what would have been his first day of Grade 6. “Ultimately it shattered his life.”

Or how I felt when I read what his grandmother had to say today.

“He said to me, ‘Mimi, my biggest issue is that I can’t protect myself, and if a man cannot protect himself, then he is not a man,’” recalled Ms. Wilson.

I wondered why a gentle child would have to become violent to live in a place like Canada. And then I discovered this.

Among the other findings, 45 per cent of all the Canadian youths in this survey agreed with the statement that “to be a man, you need to be tough.” That compared to 13 per cent in the U.K. and 26 per cent in Rwanda.

And it explained so much. Why we have bullies in our parliament, so many goons on our hockey rinks, and why we don't take bullying seriously enough.

For the record, I was a gentle child who was forced to become violent, or take martial arts, in order to survive. And although I did get a measure of revenge, what I can never forgive the bullies for is forcing me to be someone I was not.

Because boys should not be forced to conform to such narrow old-fashioned gender roles. And neither should girls.

The report, released Thursday by the development agency Plan International, found 31 per cent of Canadian boys aged 12 to 17 believe a woman’s most important role is feeding her family and taking care of the home.

They should just be who they are.

Which just happens to be the same message another gentle boy left behind before some anti-gay bullies drove him to suicide.

A YouTube message to his hero Lady Gaga, which one of her so-called little monsters, covered with pictures, and turned into a humble tribute...



And at a concert three days ago in Las Vegas, Lady Gaga added her own... 



Paws up forever Jamey.

Remember Mitchell Wilson. And all the others.

Down with the bullies...

Jamey Rodemeyer, the Bullies, and Lady Gaga

The other night I wrote about the tragic story of Jamey Rodemeyer, the 14-year-old boy from Buffalo, New York, who was bullied to death for being gay.

So I'm glad to see that the bullies may be held accountable.

Police are looking to bring criminal charges against three or more teens following the suicide of a 14-year-old who had been bullied for being gay.

At least three teens are said to be of particular interest to police and may be charged with hate crimes, harassment or cyber-harassment following the tragic death.

Because bullying is a hate crime. And I don't believe bullies can ever be punished enough.

It's such a sad story. So tragic in so many ways. And one of the things that moves me the most was how Jamey thanked Lady Gaga before he killed himself, for giving him the strength to endure, until he couldn't anymore.

On Saturday night he posted a lyric from Lady Gaga's song The Queen on his Facebook page which said: 'Don't forget me when I come crying to heaven's door.'

On 1.30am on Sunday morning, he left two final messages on one of his blogs saying he was looking forward to seeing his great grandmother, who recently died, and one as a tribute to Lady Gaga, thanking her.

And how Lady Gaga responded today.

I know a lot of older people don't like Lady Gaga. And I'm a bit too old to be one of her little monsters eh?

But no straight artist has ever worked so hard for the LGBT cause.

I think she's FABULOUS.

Bullying is a hate crime.

And this one's for Jamey...

The Sad Death of Jamey Rodemeyer

Jamey Rodemeyer was a 14-year-old boy who lived in Buffalo, New York. He was relentlessly bullied because he was gay. He cried out for help online for months.

And when nobody helped him he committed suicide.

On Sept. 8, he wrote: "No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you're the ones calling me [gay slur] and tearing me down."

On Saturday night, he posted a lyric from Lady Gaga's song "The Queen" on his Facebook page: "Don't forget me when I come crying to heaven's door."

Then around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Jamey posted two final messages to his main public Tumblr blog. One said he really wanted to see his great-grandmother, who had recently died, and one offered thanks to Lady Gaga.

That was his last entry.

The ugliest part? His blog was full of anti-gay comments from his class mates urging him to kill himself.

JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT AND UGLY. HE MUST DIE !

I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it. It would make everyone WAY more happier !

The saddest part? About four months ago he posted a YouTube video telling other kids not to give up.

Promising them it does get better...



But it didn't get better for him.

And you can be sure it won't get better for many Canadian kids in a country where bullying is a national scandal.

As one of the few bloggers who writes regularly about bullying, I don't know why more Canadians don't understand that if you want to build a kinder, gentler world, you have to start with the children.

But I do know I'll never give up.

Homophobia is a disease.

And bullying is EVIL....