It Gets Better

Columnist Dan Savage has launched the It Gets Better Project in response to the disturbing numbers of recent teen suicides related to sexuality and bullying. GLBT individuals from across the world are sharing their stories through YouTube in an attempt to encourage young people to hold on.

The tragic story of Tyler Clementi, musician and Rutgers freshman, has probably received the most international media attention, but he is only one of many. These are only the names that we know about, and from September alone, and four within the last week.

Billy Lucas (15) September 9, 2010. Indiana
Cody J. Barker (17) September 13, 2010. Wisconsin
Seth Walsh (13) September 19, 2010. California
Tyler Clementi (18) September 22, 2010. New Jersey
Asher Brown (13) September 23, 2010. Texas
Harrison Chase Brown (15) September, 25 2010. Colorado
Raymond Chase (19) September 29, 2010. Rhode Island
Felix Sacco (17) September 29, 2010. Massachusetts
Caleb Nolt (14) September 30, 2010. Indiana

A number of projects are being launched across the US. Celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres are speaking out (here's the resources she mentions), the Chalk Messages project has declared that Monday 4 Oct will be the next nationwide event to write these public messages of love and support, and The Trevor Project continues to offer help via a professional and anonymous hotline for GLBT who may be contemplating suicide.

Regardless of what you may think of the gay, lesbian, bi, or trans lifestyle, no one can argue that teen suicide is a tragedy and an epidemic to which thousands of young people lose their lives every year, often triggered by bullying. And while the projects listed above are specifically geared toward GLBT youth, as they are often the most at risk, many of the messages of hope, such as the stories from It Gets Better, are universal for anyone who has experienced bullying.