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Selena
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16 Mar 2012, 7:32 pm

So the guilty verdict came in today on the bias crime/invasion of privacy trial of the man who bullied Tyler Clementi before his suicide. Did anyone else get the feeling about this case that Clementi was bullied not just because he was gay but because he was (probably undiagnosed) aspie? There was an interesting article that came out about a month ago (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012 ... act_parker) that, although it didn't refer to the spectrum at all, really for me re-inforced this idea. The article includes an interview with another young gay man at Rutgers who shares the same first name as Clementi, and seems to be pointing out that this socially adept person would not have been treated the way Clementi was.

As someone who is both queer and aspie, I think it is interesting that so much of the public discourse about bullying tends to frame it mostly as a GLBT issue. Although I am glad that the whole "It Gets Better" video series is out there to help GLBT teens, I also think aspie traits tend to provoke at least as much or more bullying as queer behavior. I'd be interested in hearing what other queer aspies think about this.



Last edited by Selena on 17 Mar 2012, 12:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

questor
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16 Mar 2012, 9:35 pm

I am not gay, but I do agree, a lot of bullying is directed at people on the spectrum. I sure had to deal with a whole lot of it when I was growing up. :cry: I would not want to be a kid or teen again. :(


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17 Mar 2012, 5:03 am

i hope they deport that [newly convicted] felon and forbid him to ever return to this country.



Selena
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17 Mar 2012, 10:13 am

I agree that his actions were heinous. Personally I would be satisfied just to see him serve jail time and hope that he comes out a chastened and remorseful person. I hope that this case is a move toward people taking bullying more seriously . So often in cases like that where bullying results in some tragic event, the information that comes out shows that everyone around the bully and the victim, including adults, passively permitted the situation to continue. There's a sort of implicit social Darwinism where people seem to think it's a matter of survival of the socially fittest and that is what needs to end.



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17 Mar 2012, 11:37 am

Selena wrote:
I agree that his actions were heinous. Personally I would be satisfied just to see him serve jail time and hope that he comes out a chastened and remorseful person. I hope that this case is a move toward people taking bullying more seriously . So often in cases like that where bullying results in some tragic event, the information that comes out shows that everyone around the bully and the victim, including adults, passively permitted the situation to continue. There's a sort of implicit social Darwinism where people seem to think it's a matter of survival of the socially fittest and that is what needs to end.


I couldn't agree more.



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19 Mar 2012, 1:24 am

it is too much to expect that type of person [sociopathic, IMHO] to actually get a clue. the only thing to be done with him is to make him some other country's problem.



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19 Mar 2012, 3:29 am

That's strange. I was reading about him and also thought him to be an aspie or something close to that which I believed may have triggered more of the bullying. It's sad because although I'm not gay I've been there. I wish there was more awareness about this problem. I remember before being diagnosed why I couldn't confront or be "normal" like most of the people I was around. It's a depressing feeling when you don't know why and you have a few mean people who target you because of it. Anyway I need to quit self projecting. I just hope this jerk serves his time. It's just too bad that this poor guy who was said to have a gift for music took his life. I wonder how common this type of bullying is aside from it being aimed toward one's sexuality. That's really disturbing given if he hadn't found out...which ironically may have saved his life or not. Whatever the consequences, this bully deserves no free pass. I hope he gets what he deserves. Doesn't look like he had any remorse nor his friend for his actions or the aftermath.


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