Why would anyone do this to another human being?

[dodukes]

I see it the same way you do.

ita

 

[DawnCt1]

I agree....I look at this as a parent..and if this was my child the pain and humiliation my child would feel.

parents, if he was your child how would you want these 2 other characters to be charged? I think your tune would change, you wouldn't say "O its just invasion of privacy, gimme a break."
No, you would be saying it was a hate crime, done by 2 evil kids with malicious intent to hurt and humiliate this boy. And you would want justice to be served.

The point is, you can't look at this "as a parent". The law is the law, without emotional prejudice. Do you really think that they are legally responsible for Tyler's death? As sad and horrible as it is, Tyler is the only one who is responsible for his death. He may have been overwhelmed with shame and embarrassment, but he alone chose that path.They were cruel, mean, hateful, but they aren't murderers. I think that it is very sad that he appealed to the school for help and they missed the boat. I think too often we think that these "kids" going off to college are well developed adults. I think that there are few in that age group that fit that description.

 

[moon]

You want pure evil, look up the Jeffrey Curley Murder. That is pure evil.

This case is a really stupid prank that had a dramatically poor outcome. I call it a prank because I believe they would have broadcast the video even if the victim was with a woman, or completely alone doing some form of self gratification.

But the fact is that the video wasn't of the victim with a woman. right?. That in itself changes the whole game. Had it been a man, the whole campus would have cheered him on as a stud, a real man.

This was pure hatred

These two knew very well that a gay sex tape would likely destroy Tayler's life; destroy his reputation; and have serious, devastating consequences for the rest of his life. They may have not anticipated that he would kill himself -although people their age and education level are very aware of the high suicide rate among gay teens. It's a subject which has been widely discussed- anyway, say they never foresaw that. They were aware they were ruining his life. They had to be. Discrimination against gays is alive and well. Crimes against them simply because of their sexual orientation abound.

They intentionally put Taylor out there and painted a big target on him. They knew that, unlike a "prank" this would change Tyler's life and future. They KNEW this could carry grave consequences and so it would torment Tyler, and cause him huge pain and angush.

Funny, huh?

Any normal thinking person with an average IQ would know what broadcasting this meant. To not care and go ahead with it shows an EVIL, sociopathic mind.

 

[NHdisneylover]

You want pure evil, look up the Jeffrey Curley Murder. That is pure evil.

This case is a really stupid prank that had a dramatically poor outcome. I call it a prank because I believe they would have broadcast the video even if the victim was with a woman, or completely alone doing some form of self gratification.

I would not consider this a prank if the victimS (there were 2) had been a man and a woman or if it had been a person alone doing some form of self gratification. In ALL of the scenarios the act was clearly going to cause emotional damage to the person whose actions are being recorded and broadcast. No normal person would consider doing that as harmless to the person being filmed--and i think by the modern definition of prank there has to be a reasonable belief that there will be no lasting harm or repercussions (anyone else having deja vu here)

 

[Holly]

But the fact is that the video wasn't of the victim with a woman. right?. That in itself changes the whole game. Had it been a man, the whole campus would have cheered him on as a stud, a real man.

This was pure hatred

These two knew very well that a gay sex tape would likely destroy Tayler's life; destroy his reputation; and have serious, devastating consequences for the rest of his life. They may have not anticipated that he would kill himself -although people their age and education level are very aware of the high suicide rate among gay teens. It's a subject which has been widely discussed- anyway, say they never foresaw that. They were aware they were ruining his life. They had to be. Discrimination against gays is alive and well. Crimes against them simply because of their sexual orientation abound.

They intentionally put Taylor out there and painted a big target on him. They knew that, unlike a "prank" this would change Tyler's life and future. They KNEW this could carry grave consequences and so it would torment Tyler, and cause him huge pain and angush.

Funny, huh?

Any normal thinking person with an average IQ would know what broadcasting this meant. To not care and go ahead with it shows an EVIL, sociopathic mind.

Yes.


And every bit of news coverage I've seen has said "homosexual" or "intimate act" or "having sex with" ANOTHER MAN.

The fact that it was two men was central to the prank itself and central to all of the news coverage.

Sad. Scary. Homophobia is lethal.

 

[FergieTCat]

I find the range of tolerance on this subject interesting. Some of us think it's intolerable, some of us don't. I think we're going to have to agree to disagree.

 

[dejr_8]

But the fact is that the video wasn't of the victim with a woman. right?. That in itself changes the whole game. Had it been a man, the whole campus would have cheered him on as a stud, a real man.

Don't agree. Image if he was with a woman and he was very awkward and things happened early or not at all. That could have been just as embarrassing and humiliating.

 

[dejr_8]

I find the range of tolerance on this subject interesting. Some of us think it's intolerable, some of us don't. I think we're going to have to agree to disagree.

I don't think anyone is finding the act acceptable. Some of us are struggling with equating the act with manslaughter (or even murder). That's where the difference lies.

 

[Magic Mom]

I find the range of tolerance on this subject interesting. Some of us think it's intolerable, some of us don't. I think we're going to have to agree to disagree.

I don't see it as tolerable, I just don't assume to KNOW what they were thinking, so I can't agree that it is obvioulsy a hate crime. Later, more evidence may change that. I also don't think they are criminally responsible for his death. They had no way of knowing he wold commit suicude. They are criminally responsible for whatever privacy/harrassment/distribution of porn laws they may have violated.

I don't know how I would feel if I were the parent of tyler. I imagine I would be devastated and furious and hoping for a swift death of the tapers, but that's why the victims of a crime aren't also the jury. A jury has to be objective.

 

[penn19]

You want pure evil, look up the Jeffrey Curley Murder. That is pure evil.

This case is a really stupid prank that had a dramatically poor outcome. I call it a prank because I believe they would have broadcast the video even if the victim was with a woman, or completely alone doing some form of self gratification.

Not being inside their head, I can't say with 100% certainty. However, I would tend to disagree with that statement. I think the kid broadcast it BECAUSE he was with a "dude". It was meant to humiliate definitely. Did he think the outcome would be suicide? I am sure not, but I firmly believe he MEANT to humiliate. I don't consider that a prank. I consider it bullying/mean spiritedness etc...whatever you want to call it. But not a prank.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I don't think anyone is finding the act acceptable. Some of us are struggling with equating the act with manslaughter (or even murder). That's where the difference lies.

I think there may be something between manslaughter/murder and "prank" that fits the bill nicely. Sadly, I do not think we have much in the way of laws to cover some middle ground here, but at least in the discussion I think it is possible to find that ground.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

The point is, you can't look at this "as a parent". The law is the law, without emotional prejudice. Do you really think that they are legally responsible for Tyler's death? As sad and horrible as it is, Tyler is the only one who is responsible for his death. He may have been overwhelmed with shame and embarrassment, but he alone chose that path.They were cruel, mean, hateful, but they aren't murderers. I think that it is very sad that he appealed to the school for help and they missed the boat. I think too often we think that these "kids" going off to college are well developed adults. I think that there are few in that age group that fit that description.

But Tyler would not haven taken his life if this wasn't broadcasted.
There needs to be a law in place for all of this cyber bullying b/c these 2 need to be held accountable.

 

[moon]

Don't agree. Image if he was with a woman and he was very awkward and things happened early or not at all. That could have been just as embarrassing and humiliating.

You are just grasping a staws here, making justifications by going in on a lot of tangents and scenarios based on your imagination only, not in facts


There can not be any logical justification for those creatures based on facts. Their evilness in quite evident.

 

[DawnCt1]

These two knew very well that a gay sex tape would likely destroy Tayler's life; destroy his reputation; and have serious, devastating consequences for the rest of his life. They may have not anticipated that he would kill himself -although people their age and education level are very aware of the high suicide rate among gay teens. It's a subject which has been widely discussed- anyway, say they never foresaw that. They were aware they were ruining his life. They had to be. Discrimination against gays is alive and well. Crimes against them simply because of their sexual orientation abound.

They intentionally put Taylor out there and painted a big target on him. They knew that, unlike a "prank" this would change Tyler's life and future. They KNEW this could carry grave consequences and so it would torment Tyler, and cause him huge pain and angush.

Funny, huh?

Any normal thinking person with an average IQ would know what broadcasting this meant. To not care and go ahead with it shows an EVIL, sociopathic mind.

I don't think anyone hear or anywhere considers this remotely "funny". I am not sure how that word even got into this discussion. Nor do I think the intent was to "ruin his life". They were insensitive, callous, cruel, mean but I don't think that they anticipated what happened.

 

[DawnCt1]

But Tyler would not haven taken his life if this wasn't broadcasted.
There needs to be a law in place for all of this cyber bullying b/c these 2 need to be held accountable.

That is something that is only known through hindsight. There was no way to predict that. If a guy tells his girlfriend, "If you leave me, I will kill myself" and she leaves, is it her fault he if commits suicide? After all, he told her what would happen, which is more information than these perpetrators had.

 

[moon]

Don't agree. Image if he was with a woman and he was very awkward and things happened early or not at all. That could have been just as embarrassing and humiliating.

Just as? so you really believe that a boy ousted for not being able to perforrm would be in danger for being harrassed, attacked, discriminated, and being killed for it? Because that's the future for a boy who is ousted for being gay

 

[NHdisneylover]

I don't think anyone hear or anywhere considers this remotely "funny". I am not sure how that word even got into this discussion. Nor do I think the intent was to "ruin his life". They were insensitive, callous, cruel, mean but I don't think that they anticipated what happened.

I think "funny" got into the discussion because that is what a prank is intended to be--and calling it a simple prank indicates that was the intent--with no real intent to cause ANY lasting harm. Thus, the issue so many of us have with the use of that term in this thread--basically it seems to say that some people see this as something that would normally be viewed as funny; and I for one just cannot understand that view. Nothing about this is in any way funny or harmless. It was cruel, plain and simple. No, you wouldn't necessarily expect it to lead to suicide (though enough have happened it is a fairly reasonable thing to think of) but you most anyone would expect it to have lasting and damaging emotional effects as well as possible affecting the person's future employment possibilities and the like and setting the person up to become the target of other (or actual depending on what this was) hate crimes and harrasment.

 

[Magic Mom]

I think "funny" got into the discussion because that is what a prank is intended to be--and calling it a simple prank indicates that was the intent--with no real intent to cause ANY lasting harm. Thus, the issue so many of us have with the use of that term in this thread--basically it seems to say that some people see this as something that would normally be viewed as funny; and I for one just cannot understand that view. Nothing about this is in any way funny or harmless. It was cruel, plain and simple. No, you wouldn't necessarily expect it to lead to suicide (though enough have happened it is a fairly reasonable thing to think of) but you most anyone would expect it to have lasting and damaging emotional effects as well as possible affecting the person's future employment possibilities and the like and setting the person up to become the target of other (or actual depending on what this was) hate crimes and harrasment.

I think those posters aren't saying they think it is funny, but rather they believe the people doing the act probably though it was funny.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I think those posters aren't saying they think it is funny, but rather they believe the people doing the act probably though it was funny.

But some posters said it should be treated as a "simple prank." I don't think ti should be no matter what the perpetrators thought. Some horrible people think rape is funny. That doesn't make rape a prank. The same could be said for many things. The point is that this is not the type of thing that our society considers acceptable and funny and these young adults SHOULD have known that and their failure to do so does not mean we should treat them as if what they did is not as serious as it was.

 

[Magic Mom]

But Tyler would not haven taken his life if this wasn't broadcasted.
There needs to be a law in place for all of this cyber bullying b/c these 2 need to be held accountable.

We don't know that. It very may well be true, but there is no way to know. My guess is he was struggling with things to begin with and this set him over the edge. Not a single cause, but a slow building.

I don't know about the bullying aspect, but I agree that there should be some laws regarding taping and broadcasting people without their permission.