The recent suicide of Tyler Clementi, a gay Rutgers University student, brings to national attention the torment LGBT students face at the hands of their peers. Many students, like the Rutgers freshman, feel like "the powers that be" are not only disinterested in the harrassment of LGBT persons, but also permissive of it.

LGBT's are Unprotected

In one of Tyler's last statements, he complained that the school would probably not doing anything about the harassment he received at the hands of his roommate and the roommate's friend who secretly web casted Tyler. Harassment is bad enough. Imagine being harassed without feeling as though there is any recourse. This lack of support was most likely at the heart of Tyler's decision to jump off the George Washington Bridge.

In some cases, such as that of Chris Armstrong, an openly gay student and student body president at the University of Michigan, the bully is a member of "the powers that be" - Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell.