IT GETS BETTER: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living authors Dan Savage and Terry Miller will discuss the book and the project at the Nettelhorst School auditorium, across the street from Unabridged Books, 3251 N. Broadway.
Last summer the nation was rocked by a spate of gay teen suicides: youths who took their own lives because of gay bullying. Outraged and heartbroken, writer Dan Savage wished he could have spoken with these teens to assure them how life does get much better later on.
On September 22, 2010, Dan and his husband Terry Miller uploaded a video to YouTube, where they spoke openly about the bullying they suffered as teenagers—and how they both went on to lead rewarding adult lives, filled with joy, family, and love. 24 hours later, the second video was uploaded. By the end of the week, they'd received over 1,000 videos. Less than a month later, Dan received a call from the White House: President Obama himself had made a video.
Six months later, www.itgetsbetter.org has evolved into a nonprofit organization and a national movement, with over 10,000 videos and growing, from people all over the country, including politicians such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, British Prime Minister David Cameron, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and celebrities like Tim Gunn, Ellen DeGeneres, and many more. The It Gets Better project has shattered what Dan calls the "old world order", where LGBT youth were largely left to cope with bullying alone, without any adult gay role models to mentor and support them.
IT GETS BETTER contains a series of expanded essays from celebrities and everyday people who have posted videos of encouragement, as well as essays from those who haven't made videos, such as writers David Sedaris and Michael Cunningham. The book also contains a detailed index of organizations and resources available to further help LGBT youth and the larger community.
Dan and Terry recognize that IT GETS BETTER won't solve the problem of anti-gay bullying overnight. But while we work to make our schools safer, Dan writes, "we can and should use the tools we have at our disposal right now—social media and YouTube and this book—to get messages of hope to kids who are suffering right now. If you know a child who's being bullied for being gay or perceived to be gay—you can help that child find hope, by helping them find their way to this book and to itgetsbetter.org . Do your part. Give 'em hope."
