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Dan Savage to LGBT Teens: 'It Gets Better'
Filed under: Tweens, Teens, In The News, Tween Culture, Teen Culture, Health & Safety: Tweens, Development: Tweens, Social & Emotional Growth: Tweens, Behavior: Tweens, Nutrition: Tweens, Education: Tweens, Activities: Tweens, Gear Guides: Tweens, Research Reveals: Tweens, Expert Advice: Tweens, Health & Safety: Teens, Development: Teens, Social & Emotional Growth: Teens, Behavior: Teens, Nutrition: Teens, Education: Teens, Activities: Teens, Gear Guides: Teens, Research Reveals: Teens, Expert Advice: Teens
Sex advice columnist and author Dan Savage is sending a message to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens: It will get better, really!
Savage has launched the It Gets Better Project, a campaign on YouTube that's meant to assure young people that no matter what they are experiencing, including family rejection, bullying or harassment, there is a future beyond high school.
The project, he tells MSNBC, was prompted by the recent suicide of Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old who reportedly suffered homophobic harassment at Indiana's Greensburg High School. Savage created the site in conjunction with World Suicide Prevention Day, held earlier this month.
The It Gets Better Project features an eight-minute video where Savage and his husband, Terry Miller, candidly discuss their experiences as gay youth, fast-forwarding to their lives today as a family and the parents of a son, D.J.
Savage tells MSNBC he hopes others will create videos for the project, as well, sharing messages of optimism about their adult lives as open and proud gay and lesbian people.
"Today we have the power to give these kids hope," he tells MSNBC. "We have the tools to reach out to them and tell our stories and let them know that it does get better. Many LGBT youth can't picture what their lives might be like as openly gay adults. They can't imagine a future for themselves. So let's show them what our lives are like, let's show them what the future may hold in store for them."
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's latest National School Climate Survey, released earlier this month, reports nearly nine out of 10 LGBT students experience harassment and nearly two-thirds of them felt unsafe in school. Only 11 states currently specify LGBT students as a protected class in anti-bullying and harassment legislation.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
9-24-2010 @ 8:58PM
Me said...WOW! This is great guys! DJ is beautiful and getting so big!
Reply
9-27-2010 @ 3:00PM
Betsy said...These are gr8 guys! I'd like to thank them for pushing the first domino of goodwill and understanding by sharing their story and starting the simple and brilliant, It Gets Better Project!
Reply
10-02-2010 @ 4:33AM
imam said...I was thinking by quite a time to talk about this issue it forced me strong when it become the hot topic of the year in the media which called “ children abuse in church” my this topic doesn’t belong to any religion or my aim to hurt anybody feeling but with the hope it may guide someone:
As the followers of the Gods books, we can see the time of prophet lut, people were existing at that time, this kind of sex is by nature in everyone of us either he/she, yah but it couldn’t be taken so serious to this end, you can see lot of gay’s having children and the same with the opposite sex (lesbians) having children too, so that mean it is just a feeling if you take it more serious on it, it will ride on your head, if not you can avoid it.
If we look into the life of bishops/nuns those poor people spend their life for the sake of the religion and that is very good cause and recommended in all the holy books but they always forget one thing that they are humans not the prophets/Mary because prophets/Mary had power given by the God which couldn’t be provided by an ordinary person.
My last request to all who read this please take the matter seriously and stop recommending the actions not allowed by the God.
God bless us all.
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