It Gets Better

I can't even begin to describe the sadness I feel after hearing the tragic story of Tyler Clementi, the soft-spoken Rutgers freshman and violinist who committed suicide last week after his sexual encounter with another man was secretly, maliciously videotaped by two classmates and then broadcast on-line.

He jumped to his death the next day.

And this is on the heels of at least FIVE other gay-teen suicides in this country in the LAST FEW WEEKS.

It just truly makes my heart ache.  

Cyber bullying has become an absolutely relentless epidemic. 

And the old-fashioned verbal/physical bullying is still alive and well, sadly.

And its prime targets?  Gay and lesbian youth, who are 4 TIMES MORE LIKELY to attempt suicide than a heterosexual teen, according to recent statistics.

Meanwhile, amidst all this tradegy, Boyd K. Packer, the second-highest leader in the Mormon Church, has the gall to deliver a "sermon" broadcast to MILLIONS of viewers - just yesterday! -that calls same-sex attraction "impure and unnatural", that it can be "overcome", and that same-sex unions are morally wrong.

With this much ignorance and hatred spewing out of every conceivable cranny in our culture, it's little wonder that gay teens are in danger.

In response to all this, writer and columnist Dan Savage has launched a new channel on YouTube.com called the It Gets Better Project, where he invites gay people to tell their stories of bullying survival in an effort to reach out to gay teens who feel they might have reached the end of their rope.

I was bullied in high school, and I can confirm: things DO get better. 

High School sucks. 

Have a sense of humor (if possible), find support, if you can (it's out there!) and learn to run fast. 

It might seem unbearable and endless right now, but I guarantee: it will be over SOON, before you know it, and great things will happen to you!

Here is the link to the It Gets Better Project:

http://youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject

Also, the Human Rights Campaign has more info and a letter you can sign in protest of Packer's hate-filled, profoundly misguided sermon.  It only takes a second!  Here's the link to that:

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/site/R?i=mpl6pl9JTDUT4N8FXYLqeQ