Openly Gay Johnson & Wales Student Raymond Chase Commits Suicide; Campus Pride Demands National Action to address LGBT Youth Bullying, Harassment & Suicide
In the wake of two college suicides Tyler Clementi of Rutgers University& Raymond Chase of Johnson & Wales, Campus Pride reissues findings and recommendations from the "2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People" released last week at a U.S. congressional briefing on Capitol Hill
(Providence, RI) Campus Pride, the nation’s leading non-profit organization working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally college and university students, offers its condolences and support to the family of Raymond Chase who reportedly hung himself in his residence hall room this past Wednesday, September 29, 2010 on the campus of Johnson & Wales in Providence, RI.
“The loss of Raymond this week is the second college LGBT-related suicide in a week and the fifth teenage LGBT suicide in three weeks. The suicide of this openly gay young man is for reasons currently unknown; however, the recent pattern of LGBT youth suicides is cause for grave concern,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director and founder of Campus Pride. “Campus Pride demands national action be taken to address youth bullying, harassment and the need for safety and inclusion for LGBT youth at colleges and universities across the country. We must not let these tragic deaths go unnoticed. Together we must act decisively to curb anti-LGBT bias incidents, harassment and acts of violence.”
Through its Q Research Institute for Higher Education, Campus Pride released last week its "2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People." The in-depth research study is the most comprehensive national LGBT higher education study of its kind. Campus Pride surveyed more than 5,000 LGBT students, faculty and staff for the report. Findings demonstrate that these recent suicides and incidents of harassment are neither rare nor fleeting-- they are REAL.
Among the findings in the report:
-One quarter (23%) of LGBQ staff, faculty, and students reported experiencing harassment (defined as any conduct that has interfered with your ability to work or learn). Almost all identified sexual identity as the basis of the harassment (83%). An even greater percentage of transgender students, faculty, & staff reported experiencing harassment (39%) with 87% identifying their gender identity/expression as the basis for the harassment. The form of the harassment experiences by transgender people was more overt and blatant.
-One-third of LGBQ (33%) and transgender (38%) students, faculty, and staff have seriously considered leaving their institution due to the challenging climate.
-More than half of all faculty, students, & staff hide their sexual identity (43%) or gender identity (63%) to avoid intimidation.
-More than a third of all transgender students, faculty, & staff (43%) and13% of LGBQ respondents feared for their physical safety.This finding was more salient for LGBQ students and for LGBQ and/or Transgender People of Color.
For more information about Campus Pride's "2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People" report, visit www.campuspride.org/research (http://www.campuspride.org/research).
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Believe In -- Campus Pride. Campus Pride is the leading national nonprofit organization 501(c)(3) for student leaders and campus organizations working to create safer, more LGBT-friendly colleges and universities. It exists to give "voice and action" in building future LGBT and ally leaders. More info online at www.campuspride.org.
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Campus Pride is the leading national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization for student leaders and campus organizations working to create a safer LGBT learning environment at colleges and universities. It exists to develop, support and give "voice and action" in building future LGBT and ally leaders.
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Rutgers Daily Targum Slanders Clementi, Belittles Tragedy
The editorial appearing in today's Daily Targum ("Media exploits university tragedy") is thinly concealed homophobia, from start to finish.
Immersed in heterosexual privilege, an editor or editorial staff such as this has no worthwhile guidance to offer on the subject of gay and lesbian issues; indeed, calling this editorial presumptious falls far, far short of the intensity of the offense given by it to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Rutgers students, faculty, and administration as well as the larger community.
The writers of this piece might be ignored, but better yet, castigated and called to account for their decerebrate impertinence in writing: "… The mistake was that Clementi's death should not have been turned into a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender protest for gay rights and safe spaces at the University … Essentially, an angry mob fending for their rights turned the death of a young boy into a cause for "safe spaces" for gays across the University – all the while, these spaces already existed."
Self-evidently, this is untrue.
Self-evidently, to make such an assertion is ineffably stupid, and is redolent with the fetid ichor of "Focus on the Family."
A central factor in the suicide of Tyler Clementi and a number of other gay and lesbian teens and pre-teens this past week was the fact of the victims' shared sexual orientation, or perceived sexual orientation. The deaths have galvanized the LGBT community into a massive educational effort, as did the crucifixion and murder of openly gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. Hopefully, it will save some lives.
To fail to acknowledge the specifically anti-gay dimensions of the problem though (as the writers of this editorial suggest we do), to deny the sexual orientation of an overwhelming preponderance of the victims, and to fail to affix responsibility to those social, cultural and religious forces that perpetuate homophobia is to condone bullying.
The time has come to “name names.”
I profoundly hope that individuals and groups continue to utilize Tyler's tragic death as an event to coalesce solidarity and activism. Were that not to happen, were the realities of queer oppression and the work of queer liberation to be denied in favor of a sophomoric, sappy and nebulous plea for us "all to get along." that would gravely compound the tragedy of Tyler's death.
The parties responsible for writing and publishing this insulting and unfair detritus should resign or have their relationship with the Targum terminated, and in the event that fails to happen, advertisers should be persuaded to withdraw their support from this pathetic, self-involved excuse for a collegiate newspaper.
Further details of the editorial and the community's reaction to it are available at http://www.queerty.com/rutgers-daily-targum-continuing-to-de-gay-tyler-c...
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