A Social Movement - It Get's Better Project

I am experiencing greater hope that one person, maybe even me, a mom in small town Utah, can have an impact in this world. As I reflect on this past year, my heart is lifted with the social movement created by one idea, one inspiration, one man.

In September 2010 Dan Savage, well known sex columnist, read and blogged about the tragic suicide death of Billie Lucas. Billie had been repeatedly taunted and tortured at school. The bullies called him a fag and told him “to go kill himself” which is what he finally did. His family set up a Facebook page to offer a place of memorial for friends and family to come together. Those same bullies went to that Facebook page and mocked Billie, even in death. As Dan wrote about these horrific events, someone commented on his story and said he wished he had known Billie, he could have told him things get better.

Dan Savage began obsessing about those words and how he could get that message to young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) kids or any one being bullied in school. He realized that those who needed to hear the message most would not likely be allowed to attend one of his lectures, or a support group for LGBT, or join a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club.

It was at this point that Savage decided in this era of Youtube and Facebook that he would not need permission to reach those struggling young people and offer his message of hope. He set up a Youtube channel titled It Gets Better Project with the goal of getting 100 videos from LGBT adults shining a light on the path from bullying and abuse to success and joy.

Dan and his husband Terry Miller made the first video and launched it the same night.

Being naïve about the power of Youtube, he used his personal email on the account. Emails began pouring in by the hundreds, and they received 100 videos within the first 24 hours. The influx of emails and videos crashed his server. Within 36 hours, they received 650 videos, which at the time was the limit for a new Youtube account. Google took notice and within 24 hours, they backdated their account to 2004, allowing for 5,000 videos to be uploaded. Unknowingly, a social movement was born.

In October 2010 Joel Burns, a Fort Worth City Councilman, during a council meeting “came out” after speaking to the rash of gay suicides due to bullying and harassment.

He delivered an emotional and poignant message that life gets better. This courageous speech has currently received 2,689,421 views.

It was this video by Joel Burns that seemed to catapult the It’s Get Better Project into the mainstream media. The video and the project attracted attention from the likes of Lady Gaga, Hilary Clinton and President Obama, each of whom have created their own video and uploaded it to the channel. The World Series winners San Francisco Giants baseball team was the first professional sports team to make a video but have since been followed by a number of others.

The It Gets Better Project has grown into a 501c3 Non-profit organization partnering with other LGBT support organizations. It has reached millions of struggling young people and their parents and friends. It has become a worldwide phenomenon reaching over 40 million viewers, with more than 20,000 videos posted. Through the comments and the threads from the sight it is easy to see LGBT kids getting online support that they do not get at home. The project provides a sympathetic adult that LGBT youth don’t have at home or at church… adults who are illuminating the path from bullied youth to fulfilled adulthood.

In May 2011 Google Chrome aired their Ad Campaign using the It Gets Better Project during an episode of GLEE.

The implications are enormous, not only affecting LGBT youth, but making it cool for straight people to support their gay friends, to be an out ally.

Dan Savage in speaking to Google employees (http://www.itgetsbetter.org/blog/entry/video-authors-google-dan-savage-and-terry-miller-on-the-it-gets-better-proj/ ) shared a letter he received from a 15-year-old girl who came out to her parents who did not handle it well, in fact, they threatened to remove her from the home. Therefore, this young girl made a turn around, told her parents she was confused and began dating boys to play the part her parents insisted she play. She told Dan in the email that she watched the videos in her room late at night from her phone, under her covers. The videos not only gave her hope for herself, but for her parents… hoping they too will get better. She said it helped her to love her parents and be patient with them.

I am grateful my son and daughter were patient with me as I learned that while their futures weren't what I once expected them to be, they are most certainly full of all the love and joy any mom could ask for her children.