• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

CNN.com Doesn’t Know Anything About Dharun Ravi And Tyler Clementi

March 17, 2012 by Brandon Thorp and Penn Bullock

120317040614-paul-butler-headshot-left-teaseA lot of smart people have spent the last 24 hours explaining the significance of the Dharun Ravi verdict. (If you don't know about the Dharun Ravi verdict, please click here.) One of those smart people is Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor, the current "Carville Dickinson Benson Research professor of law" at George Washington University, and the author of Let's Get Free: A Hip Hop Theory of Justice. Today, CNN.com published his ruminations in the form of an essay titled "Rutgers Spying Verdict Won't End Bullying." And while the claim made in the title is self-evidently true, it's clear that Butler knows nothing about the Dharun Ravi case.

In fact, Butler is so ignorant of the case that he manages to cram four falsehoods into a single three-sentence paragraph. That graf:

As the whole world knows, Ravi secretly videotaped his roommate, Tyler Clementi, having sex with another man. He let some other people watch the video, and he tweeted that Tyler was gay. Clementi then jumped off a bridge to his death.

Falsehood breakdown:

As the whole world knows, Ravi secretly videotaped his roommate, Tyler Clementi …

There was no tape. It was a live webcam, turned on for just a moment.

… having sex with another man.

Nope. They were just making out.

He let some other people watch the video …

Nope. Only one person besides Dharun saw the webcam feed, and only briefly.

… and he tweeted that Tyler was gay. Clementi then jumped off a bridge …

Technically true, but cruelly misleading. Dharun first tweeted that Clementi was gay long before the webcam-snooping and the suicide. In fact, he did it before the school year had begun — before he'd even met Clementi in person. Butler's imputation is that Dharun somehow "outed" Clementi, which is nonsense. The only reason Dharun was able to tweet the words "Found out my roommate's gay" so early on was that Clementi was already out'n'proud on the internet. It is the case that Dharun made another reference to Clementi's sexuality on the night he spied Clementi and his lover on the webcam, but it's insane to think such a reference might drive an out person to suicide.

Butler should read Ian Parker's excellent New Yorker article, "The Story of a Suicide," before writing anything else on the subject.

Filed Under: CNN, Dharun Ravi, Tyler Clementi Tagged With: CNN, Dharun Ravi, Paul Butler, Tyler Clementi

Recent Posts

  • Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    12 hours ago
  • Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    14 hours ago
  • It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    15 hours ago
  • Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    2 days ago
Previous Post: « Seventeen Year Old Irish Dancer’s ‘Only In America’ Story
Next Post: Scott Heggart: A Jock Came Out (VIDEO) »

Primary Sidebar

  • Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

  • Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

  • It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

Recent Posts

  • Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    Lindsey Graham Tells Trump to ‘Keep Your Movement Alive,’ Urges Him to Resist Pardoning the Rioters: WATCH

    12 hours ago
  • Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Who Rallied Trump Insurrectionists, Claims He and Rep. Lauren Boebert Could Have Stopped Them After the Capitol Siege Was Underway

    14 hours ago
  • It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    It’s Bottoms Up on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ [RECAP and RANKINGS]

    15 hours ago
  • Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    Maskless Leopard Print ‘Karen’ Goes Down Shrieking at Palm Beach Bagel Shop: WATCH

    2 days ago
  • Pete Buttigieg Confirmation Hearing Scheduled for Thursday

    Pete Buttigieg Confirmation Hearing Scheduled for Thursday

    2 days ago
  • Married Lincoln Project Co-Founder John Weaver Admits Sending Sexually Inappropriate Texts to Male Job Applicants, Says He’s Gay

    Married Lincoln Project Co-Founder John Weaver Admits Sending Sexually Inappropriate Texts to Male Job Applicants, Says He’s Gay

    2 days ago
  • Bill Maher Shoots Down Kellyanne Conway’s Defense of Trump’s Legacy, That Many Folks Are Better Off: ‘A Lot of Them Are Dead!’ — WATCH

    Bill Maher Shoots Down Kellyanne Conway’s Defense of Trump’s Legacy, That Many Folks Are Better Off: ‘A Lot of Them Are Dead!’ — WATCH

    2 days ago
  • Ralph Lauren Drops 7-Year Sponsorship of Pro Golfer Justin Thomas Over Homophobic Slur

    Ralph Lauren Drops 7-Year Sponsorship of Pro Golfer Justin Thomas Over Homophobic Slur

    2 days ago
  • James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

    James Lankford, Dolly Parton, Vaccine Rollout, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, Palm Beach, The Big Lie, Joshua Bassett: HOT LINKS

    2 days ago
  • Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

    Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Takes Down QAnon GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert After Accusations He Named Her as Member Who Gave ‘Reconnaissance Tours’ of US Capitol Ahead of Trump Insurrection

    3 days ago

Most Commented

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Copyright © 2021 · Log in