NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- New Jersey is drafting a bill to stiffen criminal penalties for Internet harassment following the suicide of gay student Tyler Clementi, officials said.
Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University, jumped off the George Washington Bridge the day after a video showing him and another man having a sexual encounter was posted on the Internet, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reported.
"Intolerance is growing at the same time cyberspace has given every one of us an almost magical ability to invade other people's lives," said Rutgers instructor Robert O'Brien. O'Brien said he is the unofficial spokesman for "overwhelmed" lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students on campus.
The 18-year-old Ridgewood student died on Sept. 22. His roommate, Dharun Ravi, set up a Web cam in their dormitory room, and he and Molly Wei watched the sexual encounter in her room in the same dormitory, the newspaper said. They were charged with invasion of privacy.
Rutgers gay alumni have posted an online petition to be sent to Rutgers President Richard McCormick, calling for the school to improve conditions for students that are "socially marginalized."
"We call on all members of the Rutgers University community to protect, support, and respect its entire student body and in particularly those who are socially marginalized," the petition said.
"Tyler is the fourth highly publicized gay teen to kill himself in four weeks, and he did it the day after the release of the first major study of college campuses that found homosexual students are most likely to experience blatant oppression and hostility," O'Brien said. "I think many people are finally saying enough is enough."
