Hey there Guys,
I’ve just read that the man who has spied on Tyler Clementi, outing him as a gay male in college has been found guilty for his invation of Tyler’s privacy.
As reported in Pink News:
A jury has found a New Jersey university student, Dharun Ravi, who watched Tyler Clementi kissing another man in their room days before he killed himself guilty of 15 charges.
The prosecution did not implicate Ravi in his late room-mate’s death, but he faced over a dozen charges ranging from invasion of privacy to bias intimidation, tampering with evidence and hindering apprehension.
Ravi, now 20, was found guilty of tampering with evidence and witnesses after he tried to alter Twitter and text messages he had sent out encouraging others to join him in spying on Clementi’s gay acts over a webcam.
According to news reports Ravi can be sent to jail for up to 10 years however as he is not a US citizen may be deported back to India.
In an ‘interesting’ post by Huffington Post blogger Elizabeth Weill-Greenburg has responded:
Clementi’s death quickly became a symbol of fatal bullying and the tragic results of homophobia. But Ravi is a scapegoat. He is not responsible for Clementi’s death. The webcam viewings (one accomplished and very brief, the other aborted by Clementi) were wrong and immature. But Ravi should not be sent to prison for using extremely poor judgment. Ravi, a teenager like Clementi, likely thought of the viewings as nothing more than a prank in a world where more and more of our lives, thoughts, and images are played out online.
In addition to the her opinions is a rather ham fisted attempt at a psychological autopsy with information she had gleaned from a post in The New Yorker.
To me this post smacks of the subtle homophobia gay men and women are subjected to every day.
Her post has me pondering where do we draw the line. So if pranks are ok, how far can they go? Even a preschool kid know that it’s probably over the line if another kid cries. If a person’s only belief that suicide is the only option, the causative insult is not “nothing more then a prank”. This was a deliberate act actioned in a callous and vile fashion.
Suicide is one of the most sad and desperate plees from someone who feels they have run out of options.
Young, afraid and recently outed, Tyler Clementi felt his only way out was via death. Elizabeth Weill-Greenburg wants us to feel that Clementi must have been some how weak or defective if he was not able to withstand the “incredibly stupid and insensitive things [people do] just to gain social points”. So bullying is ok and should not have consequences if you are young and foolish?
For me this case draws a line in the sand. It’s not ok to bully anyone, ever. Full Stop.
I wonder if Ms Weill-Greenburg would be so compassionate for the perpetrator if it was her own flesh and blood that had taken their life rather then a young gay male she has never met.
We still have a long way to go…
Dr George
Leave a Reply