Social Issues Commentary

Equality Matters Blog

Robert Oscar Lopez: Tyler Clementi Killed Himself Because He Was Raped By Older Men

By Carlos Maza | WASHINGTON -- Anti-gay activist Robert Oscar Lopez believes that Tyler Clementi – the 18-year-old Rutgers student who committed suicide after his roommate secretly recorded video of him kissing another man – actually killed himself because he was raped by gay pedophiles when he was a teenager.

In a July 6 column for American Thinker, Lopez argued that society’s acceptance of homosexuality has resulted in the widespread sexual abuse of children by gay men. Lopez – who himself was raised by a same-sex couple – cites various examples to further the myth that gay men are more likely to engage in the sexual abuse of children than heterosexuals.

Lopez’s column is a nightmare of disgustingly homophobic propaganda. Here are just a few of his most egregious comments:

Tyler Clementi  killed himself because he was raped by older gay men as a teenager:

When Tyler Clementi committed suicide at the age of eighteen in September 2010, there was a torrent of sympathetic coverage that blamed homophobia.

Clementi had a sexual affair with "M.B.," a man who was thirty, whom he met over the internet.

[…]

Clementi had so much experience with online hookups that he must have started them prior to turning eighteen.  When he was a minor, it's probable that he had liaisons with men who were older than eighteen and committing statutory rape.  Seen through this lens, society failed not in fostering homophobia, but rather in allowing a culture of abuse to flourish online. 

Lopez is a close ally of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM). In March, he was scheduled to speak at NOM’s anti-equality rally outside of the Supreme Court. His writing frequently appears on NOM’s blog. NOM has called Lopez a “hero,” touted his “excellent” testimony against marriage equality in Minnesota, and asked supporters to pray for him during his efforts to fight marriage equality.  NOM has also repeatedly relied on Lopez’s testimony about being raised by a lesbian couple to argue against same-sex parenting.

NOM’s allies have peddled this kind of extreme anti-gay hate speech before. A July 3 blog post by NOM’s Ruth Institute similarly promoted the claim that pedophiles would use gay marriage as a “cover” to acquire children for sexual abuse.

And in February, NOM’s Jennifer Morse suggested that Clementi may have killed himself because he was exploited by a much older man. The Clementi family called on Morse to apologize for her comments, and she was eventually forced to clarify her remarks.

Read the entire article here.