Despicable

It's the only word I can come up with to describe the actions of Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei. Ravi set up a webcam in his shared dorm room and broadcast his roommate Tyler Clementi having sex... with another man. And he did it twice so don't go thinking about remorse and onetime mistakes. Clementi, upon finding out what Ravi and Wei had done, evidently jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge, into the Hudson River. Ravi and Wei have been charged with invasion of privacy for planting the webcam in the dorm room.

Ravi maliciously planned this business. He tweeted about it! From his Twitter message on Sept. 19:

 “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”

~ from the New York Times

I simply cannot imagine the viciousness of Ravi and Wei, that they could do such a thing to another person. What kind of mind comes up with such a plan, to publicly embarrass and shame someone because of their sexuality? It is beyond just invasive. I really hope that Ravi and Wei can be charged for something with other than just  invasion of privacy. Their actions resulted in someone's death.

Clementi, an accomplished violinist, is mourned by friends and family, who have stated they are heartbroken.

Between Asher and Tyler, it seems that being being gay is getting to be less safe, less accepted, than ever. While other countries move forward with their legislated expressions of tolerance, we move farther and farther behind.

Why is who you have sex with so important? If you're both adults and it's consensual, why is it anyone else's business? Does sexuality define everything about us or something? Who among us would want to be defined solely by our sexuality or choice of sex partner?

I'd like to think that maybe Ravi was just a scumbag who would have recorded his roommate having sex with anyone, of any gender. But I think not. 

I really want to believe it gets better. 

Because every teen deserves better than what Asher and Tyler felt about themselves. 

Every human being does.

© Bright Nepenthe, 2010