Sex columnist Dan Savage has a message for all bullied teenagers: It Gets Better.
In response to the recent suicides by teenagers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, Savage created the It Gets Better media campaign to give LGBT youths hope that they will have better experiences than the harassment they suffer now and to encourage them not to give up, according to the project’s website.
Savage started the project in September by posting a video in which he and his partner Terry Miller explain how their lives have improved since high school.
Growing up, both Miller and Savage were bullied and harassed for being gay. But Savage does not dwell on the hard times he had as a teenager. Instead he goes into detail describing happy memories of meeting Miller and raising their son, DJ.
Savage encouraged others to post videos to the project’s website, and soon the campaign went viral.
This week, UCLA’s LGBT Campus Resource Center began the filming of its very own It Gets Better videos.
According to Peter Carley, director of the center, these videos will bring together a wide spectrum of the UCLA community, students, faculty members and administrators to share their stories of how life got better after the bullying ended.
Carley said by early December the center will post the videos on its website and on the It Gets Better Project’s national website, where they will join videos added by prominent celebrities, straight and gay, including Neil Patrick Harris, Kevin Bacon, Tim Gunn and President Barack Obama.
While the videos are aimed at reaching vulnerable youths, the project will also show that UCLA has an accepting community and zero tolerance for discrimination, Carley said.
The crew from Residential Television in charge of filming the project had to be careful to make sure interviewees were comfortable with sharing their experiences with the public, said Monica Davila, a second-year political science student who worked the camera and audio during the filming of this week’s videos.
Davila said the interviewees gave advice to all LGBT youths who are not growing up in a supportive environment.
“It took a lot of strength for them to (give their advice),” Davila said, “It was real. It came from the heart.”
According to the It Gets Better project website, nine out of 10 of LGBT students have experienced harassment in school, and more than one-third of LGBT youth attempt suicide.