TEARY BUT UPLIFTING: It Gets Better – YouTube messages to Gay Teens

by Petit Fours

Well. This had me crying into my keyboard at work today. I guess that’s because the It  Gets Better Project is about lonely teenagers, depression, suicide and tales of overcoming difficulty and  finding self-worth in a hard world. Individually, any one of those would have me tearing me up. All of them, and I was sort of folding my laptop over my head, and sobbing into its hinge. Enough already, this is a brilliant project.

Famous American writer and gay media activist Dan Savage has just set up a YouTube channel – It Gets Better – aimed at gay teenagers feeling lost, scared or alone. The idea is that adult gay people who have gone through difficult times as kids and come out the other side give some hope and advice through personal videos.

Spurred on by the recent suicide of Billy Lucas a teenage boy in Indiana bullied for looking gay and whose facebook memorial page was desecrated after his death,  Savage hopes the videos from adult gay people  will reach vulnerable lonely youngsters and give them the strength to hang on. He wants to stop more gay youngsters committing suicide – gay teenagers in the States are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.

The channel kicks off with a sweet video of Dan Savage and his husband Terry talking about their own childhoods – Terry’s is rough – and then about their current life. So far there are 66 responses from people of all ages and all across America, from old men to 16 year-old Emily from Texas who reduced me to sobbing all over again. [We can't embed the videos but please check the channel out to watch them].

The It Gets Better Project is looking for more people to make videos, just upload them, then email Dan the link – instructions on the site.. If you think you can, you’ll be contributing to a great resource. It’s a lovely testimony to many different lives that gay people lead and even in these few videos captures some of the huge variety in gay people and gay stories in a way that nothing else I can think of has.

One other lovely thing about the channel is all supportive comments from straight people. Considering that YouTube comment boards can often be riddled with gay bashing, this is really touching.

“I’m straight and this is wonderful. Thank you so much, I am trying to spread the word. I have many gay and bi friends, and am urging them to submit something. Good on you, fellas! :)”

“This made me cry. What a wonderful way to offer hope. Wish I’d had something like this to offer to my gay friends back in high school. Brilliant idea!”

[thanks to Nadja for the story]