Interviewing the parents of Jamey Rodemeyer, a gay 14-year-old who committed suicide after being bullied, on Tuesday's NBC "Today," co-host Ann Curry used the tragedy to attack social conservatives, as she wondered: "Do you think our churches, our politicians and other adults who adhere to an anti-gay message enable some of this hate?" [Audio available here [1]]
Tim Rodemeyer responded: "Yeah, I think it does. People have different views on things, and if you believe in homosexuality is right or wrong, that's your right as an American, but it's no reason to bully someone and hate them." Tracy Rodemeyer added: "And make them feel worthless."
Moments later, Curry touted a tweet from openly gay musician Rick Martin: "[He] tweeted his 4 million followers saying, 'How many lives do we have to lose to finally stop the harassment, hatred, bigotry and abuse?'"
Prior to Curry's interview with the Rodemeyers, correspondent Kate Snow reported on reaction to the suicide and cited tweets from singer and gay rights activist Lady Gaga: "She also tweeted,'Bullying must become illegal. It is a hate crime.' 'I am meeting with President. I will not stop fighting. This must end. Our generation has the power to end it.'"
Snow then declared: "The singer spoke with President Obama on Sunday at a fund-raising event in California. The two talked briefly about the President's anti-bullying campaign."
Here is a portion of Curry's September 27 exchange with the Rodemeyers:
8:15AM ET
(...)
ANN CURRY: Do you think our churches, our politicians and other adults who adhere to an anti-gay message enable some of this hate?
TIM RODEMEYER: Yeah, I think it does. People have different views on things, and if you believe in homosexuality is right or wrong, that's your right as an American, but it's no reason to bully someone and hate them.
TRACY RODEMEYER: And make them feel worthless.
CURRY: I know you were very – I'm going to point out that you're wearing a bandana that Jamey wore, it says Gaga on it.
TRACY RODEMEYER: He made this and said, you know, he was going to wear it every day of the school year.
CURRY: You are wearing a shirt that says "It gets better." You're wearing Gaga bandanas on your arm, you're covered in regalia because you want to make a difference. And you're pointing out Lady Gaga because, as we saw in the piece, she dedicated a song to him, she said, "Jamey, I know you're up there looking at us, you're not a victim." Also Ricky Martin tweeted his 4 million followers saying, "How many lives do we have to lose to finally stop the harassment, hatred, bigotry and abuse?"
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- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here [2] to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.