Earlier this year, British fashion graduate Rebecca Short, 22, had a very pleasant surprise when Lady Gaga wore one of her designs to a press conference in Singapore. Now, to borrow some famous lyrics from another great American singer, Britney Spears, it seems that Lady Gaga recently 'did it again!'
Give a pleasant surprise to a young fan, that is, not wear a Rebecca Short dress. This time, the lucky fan is 17 year old Jacques St Pierre from Canada.
Anti-Bullying Campaign
Jacques received a personal video message from Lady Gaga by e-mail, in support of an anti-bullying campaign he has started at his school, where he has asked pupils to make pledges against bullying.
In the message, the singer praised the teenager for his efforts to "spread tolerance." She said: "It is important that we push the boundaries of love and acceptance." She added that she is going to be working hard to make bullying a hate crime.
A Longtime Advocate
It seems that Lady Gaga has been an advocate for anti-bullying laws for some time. Earlier this year, at a fundraiser, she addressed President Obama on the issue. She highlighted the case of a 14-year-old fan who committed suicide after being bullied at school because he was gay.
Her message to Jacques went on to say: "I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you for being such a strong advocate of the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community in your school.
"My father always saves all the fan letters that I receive and I read yours very recently and wanted to send this video to you.
"It is important that we spread tolerance and equality for all students."
How The Campaign Started
Jacques was bullied himself at elementary school. When he wanted to take part in school plays, other students called him 'gay' for his interest. So when he moved to the Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto, he ran for the student council and organised a series of events to raise awareness of bullying.
As part of his campaign, he emailed several celebrities to ask for their support.
Unexpected
Jacques told Toronto'sCBC News that he had not been expecting a direct email from the singer.
"The subject line said 'To Jacques from Lady Gaga,'" he told the broadcaster.
"It said 'click on the link below to download the video for your assembly'.
"I watched it and I started crying. I'm a huge fan. It's kind of embarrassing because I love her so much. I couldn't believe it."
Unsurprisingly, Jacques' fellow students were impressed by the message. Just to prove what a real difference celebrity support can make to good causes like this one, one male student said: "I'm starting to actually realise how big this problem is and I just want to make a difference now."
I hope that makes Lady Gaga feel as good as it has made Jacques and many more of her fans feel.
Sarah Ismail - Sarah Ismail is a physically disabled journalist and blogger. She edits her personal blog, Same Difference, which covers all kinds of ...
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