Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi was convicted last month on all 15 charges and to 30 days in jail for using a webcam to spy on his roommate having sex with another man.

In order to honor the anniversary of the unfortunate passing of his roommate Tyler Clementi, we must continue the conversation over bullying among gay youth in America.

While Clementi’s suicide happened two years ago, the statistics on gay youth suicide and bullying continue to rise.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender marriage debates are occurring across the country, with North Carolina being the recent state to vote against it, however dialogues needs to focus around gay youth and how to handle the pressure and bullying associated with it.

According to youthprideri.org, 36.5 percent of gay, lesbian and bisexual youth grades 9-12 have attempted suicide, and LGBT youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth.

More over, 84 percent of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation and 91.5 percent of students reported hearing homophobic remarks like, “faggot,” “dyke” or “That’s so gay.”

Regardless of your views on homosexuality, the statistics are staggering and should not be happening.

This case, unfortunate and appalling as it may be, shows how intolerant we are of people’s individuality and right to privacy in our country, and thus, as in most cases, education can serve as the tool for change.

Just as racial epithets or name-calling should not be tolerated, the same should stand for LGBT epithets.

In the Clementi case, Ravi not only recorded his roommate having sex with a man but also sent out messages on Twitter about how his roommate was about to “make out with a dude.”

While Ravi couldn’t have predicted that Clementi would commit suicide, he should have known better then to invade his roommate’s privacy and choice in his sexual preferences, and moreover to bully him for his individual choices.

The dialogue about gay youth needs to open up in cities and towns across America in order for everyone to become comfortable about the situation and not have it be seen as “weird” or “different.”

LGBT teens and youth should not have to feel ashamed about their sexual orientation or feel the need to hide it in fear or being bullied.

If tolerance is taught from as early on as grade school, homosexual and heterosexual youth would become more comfortable with opening up dialogue and bullying, while it wouldn’t be completely stopped, could be less frequent.

As is commonly stated, we fear what we do not know, and if children were educated early on regarding LGBT youth, it could become something they were more familiar with.

What does it say about our society that in 2012, we have children as young as nine years old committing suicide because of being teased about being homosexual?

We need to do better, for our youth, our future generations and our country.