A Sad Story

So I'm surfing YouTube at work (yeah, I'm a slacker)... and I run across the Philip Defranco show.  I've watched this guy before.  He's witty, funny, and it's just a great way to waste a few minutes.  But today's offering provided a sad glimpse into campus life for one gay teen at Rutgers.

It seems a guy asked his roommate for their room until midnight... basically asking for privacy to get his freak on.  A decent enough request for any college kid to make of their roommate.  But this roommate said "Hey, why not turn on my webcam and me and my girl can watch him get it on over the internet!"  We'll skip over the fact that it is illegal to be filmed/recorded without consent, and move on to the fact that when the roommate got to his girlfriend's room and switched on the feed, he got more than he bargained for.   He found out his roommate was gay... because he was making out with a dude.  His roommate was not out, and because of the way the roommate set up the cam, the session was basically broadcasting live to the internet for all to see... outting him not to just friends... but to the world.  Great roommate huh?

But wait...there's more.  It turns out the kid who originally asked for privacy realized (after the fact) that the cam recorded him... and he basically went through the proper channels to start the process of at the very least finding a new roommate... if not having something done against the illegal actions of his roommate.  Sadly, it didn't get much further.  Only hours later, the gay student apparently ended his life by jumping from the George Washington Bridge.  The various posts about his plight to a gay message board seem grounded and stable... hardly what you would expect from someone about to commit suicide.  But at the same time, his roommate had publicly posted on Facebook about the incident... and most responses were of digust toward the gay roommate.   Having to face that humiliation day-in and day-out at the dorms where his private life was suddenly thrust into public view may have proved too much for him to bear.

What's worse is the roommate who cause the suicide... and his girlfriend... are likely to only get 5 years each. For illegally video taping someone without their consent.  Inciting his roommate to commit suicide and you get 5 years.... nice world we live in.

Here's the YouTube video from Philip Defranco.  And below that is the link to the original news article...


Gawker - The Tragic Story of Tyler Clementi, Rutgers' Webcam Voyeurism Victim