A series of tweets and Internet postings in the weeks before the suicide of a Rutgers University student appear to show that the freshman's sexual orientation had been an issue from the start.
Authorities in New Jersey are investigating the events that led to the death of Tyler Clementi and are considering whether they can pursue more charges against his roommate, Dharun Ravi, and another student, Molly Wei, who allegedly filmed Clementi engaged in a sexual encounter with another man and broadcast it on the Internet.
Ravi tweeted on Aug. 22, "Found out my roommate is gay," according to Forbes.com, and then posted a link to a gay men's website where Ravi said Clementi had placed posts.
Gawker reported it was that same website, JustUsBoys, that Clementi was believed to have turned to once he found out that Ravi had secretly filmed Clementi's sexual encounter with another man.
"So my question is what is next," the posted cti2mo, believed to be Clementi, wrote on Sept. 21. "I could just be more careful next time ... make sure to turn the cam away."
And then, in the same post, "I'm kind pissed at him (rightfully so I think, no?)"
Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey, who resigned from office after disclosing he was gay, said he was "filled with great sadness and pain" after learning of Clementi's suicide and the online torment he faced.
"Coming to terms with your sexual orientation is very much an individual journey. ... You say to yourself, 'I'm different. I'm distinct,'" he said. ""For some gay Americans it's still that much difficult."
The explosion of social media in the last several years has made it that much easier, he said, for gay youth to become a target.
"I think this is actually a very difficult time," he said.
McGreevey said he'd like to see more adults held responsible for the bullying of gay and lesbian youth, much in the same way children are protected against racial or religious discrimination.
"Authority has to instruct children that it's not only morally wrong," he said, "but it won't be tolerated and there are consequences of that happening."
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also spoke out, calling Clementi's suicide an unspeakable tragedy and saying on Thursday that he couldn't imagine how the two students accused of secretly filming Clementi could sleep at night "knowing that they contributed to driving that young man" to suicide.
The governor spoke hours after a body that was pulled from the Hudson River was identified as Clementi. The student leaped to his death after his roommate allegedly secretly filmed him during a sexual encounter with a man and posted it live on the Internet.
The medical examiner's office said an autopsy revealed the 18-year-old had drowned and suffered blunt impact injuries to his torso.
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