It Gets Better

It Gets Better is a video made by Dan Savage which spawned hundreds of imitations. There is also a book about the campaign and a YouTube channel.

The theme's basis is the claim that if homosexual youths can "just get through their teen years", they'll be able to enjoy the protection of adult power and camaraderie which will overcome the "daily tormenting and bullying" they face now. A premise of this is that the main problem the gay community faces is lack of acceptance and toleration from "straight" people.

The campaign began in September 2010, when Savage noted a number of suicides by gay teenagers who had been bullied for their sexual orientation. He told gay teens to hold on to their homosexuality, promising them that adult homosexual life will provide them "levels of happiness, potential, and positivity".

In response to the suicide of a gay teenager named Billy Lucas, Savage expressed, "I wish I could have talked to this kid for five minutes. I wish I could have told Billy that it gets better. I wish I could have told him that, however bad things were, however isolated and alone he was, it gets better."(Author's emphasis) Savage, in conjunction with several organizations founded the project as a 501(c)(3) organization and set up a YouTube channel to which videos could be uploaded.

While the channel started off with just a video from Savage and another person, within two weeks more than 200 videos were submitted to the project and soon after the project reached YouTube's video limit of 640 submissions. Due to the increasing submissions an website was launched to host more videos. The site continues to accept submissions.

Criticism

The project has seen its fair share of criticism from both sides of the spectrum.

Those on the right have argued that while it is noble to help troubled young people, Dan Savage's video message is wrong and that gay teens need help. Mentally and physically, it gets better by leaving homosexuality. At the least, they say, abstinence will prolong their lives, not shorten it.

Some on the left have argued that It Gets Better doesn't go far enough and that the goal should be making things better now, not saying it will get better later.^{[Citation Needed]}

Notable events

In October of 2010 President Barack Obama and former First Lady Laura Bush submitted videos to the project.

Inspired by Obama, the White House Staff created a video in support of It Gets Better project. White House Staff, YouTube

In October of 2011 a number of Members of Parliament from the Conservative Party made a video in support of the project.

In January of 2012, Vox Day reported that two gay teens who had made videos It Gets Better Project died by suicide.(see also: Mental Health and Homosexuality).

Partners

Various benefactors are partnered with the project including: GLSEN, ACLU, and The Trevor Project.

See also

• Christian faith vs. defeatism and acceptance of sexual sin

External Links

• official website
• White House website, Obama "It Gets Better"