Make It Better: Celebrities & Activists Rally Against Gay Bullying

Gay bullying has taken an unfortunate spotlight in recent weeks, after at least five teen boys were overcome by the pressures and taunts of peers who persecuted them for their sexual orientation and took their own lives.

Billy Lucas, 15, of Greensburg, Ind. hanged himself in a barn after being constantly taunted.

Houston-area student Asher Brown, 13, shot himself in the head after enduring persistent harassment from classmates.

Tehachapi, Calif. middle-schooler Seth Walsh, also 13, died after hanging himself from a tree in his backyard. School officials reportedly ignored his bullying problem.

Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jumped from the George Washington Bridge after his roommate took a video of him in a homosexual encounter and released it online.

Shortly after, Johnson & Wales student Raymond Chase hanged himself in his dorm room in Rhode Island.

Now, sex-advice columnist Dan Savage is hoping to offer a light at the end of the tunnel to other gay teens with a new YouTube series called the It Gets Better Project.

Savage and his husband Terry posted a video to the site describing their own experiences with bullying as teens and invited others to do the same.

Today we have the power to give these kids hope. We have the tools to reach out to them and tell our stories and let them know that it does get better. Online support groups are great, GLSEN does amazing work, the Trevor Project is invaluable. But 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.

Since the site launched in mid-September, hundreds of people have uploaded their own videos about overcoming the difficulties of growing up feeling unaccepted by their peers, including Ellen DeGeneres, Eve and Sarah Silverman.

WATCH:

Inspired by Dan Savage's project, the Make It Better Project encourages people to take action so that LGBT youth don't have to wait until they grow up to know everything will be okay.

Make It Better is organizing a week of action from October 5-11 to remember those who lost their lives and to bring nationwide attention to bullying in schools now.

Visit the site to find one of the many events across the country that are occurring during the next week, including candlelight vigils and town hall discussions. You can also share your story.

Comments

[smkyle]

10:39 AM on 10/29/2010

Anti-Gay bullying today is what witch hunting was in Salem, MA in the late 1690's. Those of us who are silent on this issue are just as guilty.

http://www.laprogressive.com/rankism/gay-rights-rankism/antigay-bullying/

[hillsarealive2010]

04:30 PM on 10/09/2010

Ok I’m going to receive alot of backlash for this but here it goes.

Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Kim Kadashian and even Kendra...are all celebrities who have had tapes of them engaging in the most intimate act exposed to the word to see. Many of these celebrities have chosen to make this situation a personal benefit and have chosen to profit from the tapes released.

The taping of this boy is not a 'gay' bullying issue, its not even a homophobic issue (this mere suggestion of that is ridiculous)...many straight people have had very private images of themselves exposed on You Tube. This unfortunate scenario could happen to anybody irrespective of their sexuality and we all know that but choose to ignore the obvious.
The death of Tyler is not the responsibility of those who taped him, they were reckless, thoughtless and inconsiderate p***** at best but that doesn’t make them murderers. He chose to make that fatal decision and those who have been in the same situation many times before didn’t.

At best this is a civil case. The privacy of Tyler was completely compromised, this is true, but what was criminal about those actions? It was a complete invasion of his privacy and Tyler’s family should be appropriately compensated for the this unfortunately incident.

[skexie]

08:18 AM on 10/10/2010

Most, if not all, of those people you mentioned with sex tapes actually consented to making them; afterward they also consented to the of the tapes and making a profit from them. This kid had no such choice, as the encounter was streamed live over the internet without his knowledge.

Now, would Tyler's roommate have acted with such malicious intent if the student were straight and being intimate with someone of the opposite sex? Not likely.

[skexie]

08:20 AM on 10/10/2010

sorry..."consented to the SELLING of the tapes"

[hillsarealive2010]

09:35 AM on 10/10/2010

The basis of your disagreement is that your ASSUME that Tyler's roommtes were being malicious streaming his actions on the internet because he was gay.

Unfortunately nasty pranks like this have happened to many straight people before and it wasn't plastered in every newspaper as 'hetrosexual bullying.

This whole tragedy has shown how the media have used Tyler's death and him as a poster boy for 'gay bullying' whilst the reality is that noone should be taped whilst having sex without their consent, its just wrong.

[Selina Spence]

04:09 PM on 10/10/2010

Knowing only what has been released to the media I tend to agree with your opinion about the live streaming of Tyler's sexual encounter. I have noticed that college kids, starting about 10 years ago, are much more progressive than their uneducated peers and most of the time their family. I would like to know about the kid that did the live stream before deciding if it was just a really nasty prank that pushed Tyler to far or if it was gay bashing. I don't tolerate either in my life but I do think people should be guilty of what they are accused of causing or doing.

[HopeR]

06:34 PM on 10/08/2010

THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!!!! NOW!!! DEPLORABLE CRIMES AGAINST GAY TEEN!!

[Mark Olmsted]

10:59 AM on 10/08/2010

I think another group needs to be appealed to: the non-bullied and their parents.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-olmsted/bullying-and-gay-teens-ch_b_754159.html

[valeskas]

12:07 PM on 10/06/2010

Bullying is never ok. I did not know that I was bullied until I listened to "Ellen's" show. But yes when I was in school in Germany, I got bullied, it seems that the bullying is done by the ones, who maybe don't like you, because you could answer the teachers question. When I was young Nerd was not in our vocabulary, yes sometimes I did not wanted to go to school, but if I would have been gay, the bullying would have three times as bad. When will people understand, that hatred kills and that you are born gay or a lesbian, that it is not a something you learn. I remember, how hard it was for a friend of mine to come out, he tried so badly to be like everyone else, but it did not change. Maybe I am a softy, I am always there to help people and animals, but I cannot stand hatred of any kind. Especially young children and teenagers, because they are so sensitive, when you get older it gets better, but that does not help the issue at hand. The suicides, we had lately was, because of the hatred from others, towards these young people. These people who did this need to be punished to the fullest.

[Rickfors]

06:17 PM on 10/05/2010

What about those of us who had a family that did the bullying? Mine did and was a nightmare, but I survived it. Seek out a therapist, preferably a gay one. I did and it helped tremendously.

[Red Beans]

04:38 PM on 10/05/2010

This is a great start. Bullying should never be tolerated. It would be nice if the monitors for Huffington Post took bullying serious and prevent some of the personal attacks that are allowed to be posted. A number of comments go beyond politics. Some comments are simply taunting and hate speech that a progressive organization should not tolerate.

How many times must we hear the comparison of Bush/Obama to Hitler? You may not like Hillary or Palin, but the personal attacks about their looks / accent / family or outfits is just plain old bullying. Just like the children on a play ground. Someone is different. Make fun of them. It makes you fill like you have power.

[Bert Juneau]

02:07 PM on 10/05/2010

If this is happening in a school setting, the schools should be held civilly liable for it. Kids have a right to an education - and no matter the reason they are bullied - their security and the environment they are in - are the schools responsibility. Staff who ignore it should be fired, tenure or not. Schools that permit it or do nothing to punish the bullies should be sued. Parents of children who do it should be sued as well.

It won't stop until it costs them something - people don't care about kids - they can't vote and they don't have any money.

[krallfan]

03:04 PM on 10/05/2010

I respectfully disagree. First of all, the schools would not be held liable, taxpayers would be held liable. Secondly, its the job of all parents to get together and solve this problem. Perhaps we all should work in PARTNERSHIP with the schools instead of making it their responsibility for something that has nothing to academics, their primary reason for being.

[snykerdoodle]

03:31 PM on 10/05/2010

Well said.

[Bert Juneau]

06:17 PM on 10/05/2010

Yes, if the school is public, the taxpayers would end up paying the tab for their inept employees at the school. We are all responsible for our staff - and that includes taxpayers.

We've gone the feel-good - let's all hug and love each other route - it hasn't worked.

If the offense is bad enough, the school staff can also be sued personally and held personally liable.

Sue them into their next life. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

[onionboy]

04:26 PM on 10/05/2010

Parents are clearly teaching their children to be thugs with no sense of repercussions. Then they're sending them out into the world.

[Bert Juneau]

06:19 PM on 10/05/2010

If the problem is at school, the staff at the school are responsible for the security of the school. They are also resposible to see to it that all students are getting the education they are entitled to get. That's the law.

Parents of the offending children can also be held liable for infringement of the victims rights.

Hold them all responsible and sue them until their eyes fall out - it's the American way. :)

No one will care until you hit them where it hurts - the wallet.

[valeskas]

09:37 AM on 10/05/2010

Preaching hatred from the pulpit should be forbidden.

[Bert Juneau]

02:02 PM on 10/05/2010

Isn't that most of what religion is.....

[neighborhoodmole]

03:53 PM on 10/05/2010

Unfortunately, free speech means allowing people to say things you disagree with. We can try to hold them accountable for the consequences, though.

[LMPE]

12:16 AM on 10/05/2010

I want someone to shove this in Pat Robertson's face, just to see if his head explodes.

[Bert Juneau]

02:02 PM on 10/05/2010

He won't take any responsibility - he'd blame the devil or the media or congress or something...

[FSomma]

10:59 PM on 10/04/2010

I've created an IT GETS BETTER t-shirt to help bring more attention to Dan Savage's wonderful campaign as well as raise money for THE TREVOR PROJECT. Your support can make a difference! www.ItGetsBetter.biz

[garystartswithg]

10:27 PM on 10/04/2010

Not sure how you show kids life as a third rate person is ok. They know better. There are strong messages of inequality all around them. The last thing they need is more adults lying to them. Teach them all good things are worth fighting for -- and we have a war to fight. So tired of covering everything in warm fuzzies and pretending everything is just swell. Its not.

[exxman]

01:37 PM on 10/05/2010

I'm sorry yiu are in so much pain.

[lucyfurr]

01:42 PM on 10/05/2010

I totally understand your anger. The video said to "tough it out". That, in and of itself, is an inner fight. These guys are simply trying to build worth and self-esteem. Being bullied and ostracized is not just limited to gay kids. Many str8 kids are also mercilessly bullied. Most everyone experiences inequality in their lives at some point. There's currently an inequality class war being waged between Wall St and Main St. Take a look at all the social advances gays have made in the last 20, 40, 60 years alone. It's a war not being won as fast as we'd like but we are closer to the end. I'm confident that in decades to come gays will be embraced and not despised. Maybe not in our life time- but it will happen- it already has for so many people. Keep fighting Gary!