Online video campaign aims to give hope to gay teenagers

By Staff Writer

Thousands of videos have appeared on YouTube as part of a nationwide campaign to help gay teenagers who may be contemplating suicide.

The New York Times reports that the "It Gets Better" initiative coincides with recent suicides of homosexual teens and young adults. The video testimonials have been created by gay adults who disclose their early struggles with isolation and depression because they felt alienated from society.

The recurring message delivered in the personal accounts is that, no matter how difficult the hardships, it does get better over time and suicide is not the solution. The campaign was created by columnist Dan Savage after he heard about the suicide of 15-year-old Billy Lucas, who was bullied relentlessly because of his sexual preference.

Savage and his husband started the YouTube page on September 21 and promoted it in his syndicated column. He quoted the late Harvey Milk, the openly gay politician who was assassinated in 1978, who said, "You gotta give 'em hope."

Gay teenagers are a fraction of high school students who contemplate suicide every year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 15 percent of youth in grades 9 to 12 had seriously considered committing suicide within a year before taking the survey.