My Message To Gay Bullies, the Parents, Teachers, Faculty & Friends of the Deceased

This is Jamey Rodemeyer. Jamey was a 14 year old kid from Buffalo, NY.  Now he is a corpse lying six feet underground because he was bullied by pathetic cowards and virtually ignored by all of those surrounding him. Just days before his death Jamey was on the receiving end of hateful cyberbullying posts like "Jamey is stupid, gay, fat and ugly. He must DIE!" and "I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it, it would make everyone WAY more happier!"

And as a result of this (and I'm sure countless other threats/cyberbullying/etc) Jamey was found dead outside of his house over one week later. He made a point to write on Sept. 8th that "No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you're the ones calling me [gay slur] and tearing me down." The people that standby and watch this happen and doing do anything are just as much the criminals as those committing the crimes. As angry as I am, this is not about the anger. This is about doing all we can to ensure that this kind of thing is prevented. Bullies should be expelled from schools after their FIRST anti-gay remark. Not their second, not third, not fourth...FIRST. And if the continue their anti-gay bullying they should be put in a juvenile detention center or a bootcamp to set them right. I will let the gay bullies know that "IT DOES NOT GET BETTER FOR YOU, IT GETS WORSE." And as for the school faculty, open your god damn eyes. Yes, you are not a mental health clinic but do you honestly think you couldn't have done more to prevent this? Did you do anything when Jamey was being bullied in class? Did you do anything when he was being taunted in the lunch room or outside? No, you didn't. Why? Because they're just kids? No they are CRIMINALS and should be treated as such. And PARENTS, if you're aware that your child is on the receiving end of anti-gay bullying then REMOVE them from the school. If you have to home school them or put them in a private school for god's sake do it. And the friends, be there with your friend at all times. Call your friend, even if you have to do it 12 times a day, let them know that you are there for them!

And this is the video that Jamey created promising people it gets better. It's literally too heartbreaking for me to even watch a second time:

I don't know Jamey Rodemeyer but I wish I had. I wish I could have talked to the faculty at his school about the bullying he was receiving or pushed them to do something about the bullying that they were obviously ignoring. I wish I could have talked to his parents to tell them that their wonderful son was going through so much pain and shown them the wonderfully positive video he made. I wish I could have talked to Jamey's friends to tell them how they could have helped Jamey get through his days easier. But most of all I wish I could have been Jamey's friend, because I swear on my life I would NEVER have let this wonderful teenager kill himself.

If you ever see anyone being bullied, even if you don't know them, for the love of God please, please HELP THEM. Please be the voice of those that are afraid to talk and please be a friend to those being bullied. 

-Chris Ryan