It Gets Better

I remember when I was in school, early teens; Ellen DeGeneres came out of the closet. It was a big deal back then (mid-late 90's) and the episode of her sitcom Ellen, in which she came out, won an Emmy. I remember watching an awards show (whether it was the Emmys, I'm not sure) where she received an award for the show, and in her acceptance speech she said: "It's okay to be gay!"

I knew when I was watching it that I was witnessing the start of something new. Things were changing, things were shifting; people were becoming more tolerant and open minded, and most important of all, Ellen had unwittingly begun to arm gay teens like myself against the homophobic shitheads who made our lives miserable. She'd begun to instil within us that little seed of truth that made us realise we had just as much right to be here as everybody else.

Thirteen years down the line, much has changed, yet much remains the same. Kids still get bullied by their peers and many gay teens contemplate suicide... unfortunately some of them succeed. Just think about it: for every teen who takes their own life, there are that many more who have attempted it and failed, and even more who are on the thinking of doing it. 

With the recent gay suicides in the US, the "It Gets Better" campaign was started to as a way to inform gay teens that it's not the end of the world and they can have a happy life after school. This is sorely needed and has been wanted a long time. All of us have been through high school and none of us were left unscarred, some carrying bigger scars than others.

In the link I posted above, US politician Joel Burns recounts his own story and reminds us all that it does get better. It's raw, emotional and moving, and I cannot stress how universally important I find it. This can literally save lives.