In the top comments on music videos on Youtube there’s always: “I see [artist], I click.”
That’s pretty much how I am with articles about proud parents of LGBTQ kids. If I see that headline, I click immediately & prepare to cry.
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#pride #lgbt #lgbtq #it gets better #lgbtyouth #equality #pride2017 #it gets better projectMore you might like
It Gets Better in July: Five Videos to Make Your Day
Since 2010, the It Gets Better Project has collected over 60,000 video stories from LGBTQ people and their allies from around the world. Here are some of our favorites from June 2017.
1. #PorUnFinalFeliz – “For A Happy Ending” Campaign
Through July, our affiliate in Chile, Todo Mejora, continues the campaign Por Un Final Feliz with the help of several media partners. A number of new videos have been uploaded to their YouTube page featuring uplifting stories from Chilean young people, as well as messages of hope from actors and other popular figures.
Todo Mejora [It Gets Better Chilé]
2. El Summit 2017 de Pride Connection Summit – It Gets Better México
It Gets Better México participated in the 2017 Pride Connection Summit and has a large number of It Gets Better videos uploaded to their YouTube page from other participants they came across there. Featured below is Carlos Maza, a manager over at Moovz, a global LGBT social network that’s particularly popular in Latin America. Pride Connection aims to foster inclusive company cultures for LGBTQ employees at professional work places across the world.
3. It Gets Better Project Checks Out Check It
In July, we heard from some of the kids featured in the documentary Check It, which chronicles the journey of a group of young black LGBTQ men and women in Washington D.C., breaking out of poverty by launching clothing labels, walking runways, and putting on fashion shows. Emerging from violence and harassment, they made a family where they didn’t have one.
“Life for the Check It can be brutal, but it’s also full of hope and an indomitable resilience.”
In this series of videos, various members of the Check It share their stories & their messages for others in the LGBTQ community.
4. It Gets Better Spain Hears From EL PAÍS
EL PAÍS is a daily newspaper based in Madrid, Spain with a circulation of over 15 million unique readers. In this video, a number of their staff have words of encouragement for LGBTQ jóvenes – young people.
5. Petra Bayr, a Member of Austrian Parliament, Says “It Gets Better”!
Petra Bayr knows that there is bullying and even violence against LGBTQ young people in her country. But as part of the government, she she hopes she can encourage young people to come out and stresses that things will be better.
Es Wird Besser Österreich [It Gets Better Austria]
Craving more?! Go to www.itgetsbetter.org, or keep scrolling to learn more about the cool things It Gets Better and its affiliates are doing around the world.
Colombia: It Gets Better Colombia marched for Pride in Bogotá alongside 150,000 other passionate fighters for the LGBTQ community.
España: Our affiliate in Spain also marched at World Pride 2017 alongside our Portuguese and Austrian affiliates! Supported by Lush Spain, we were proud to spread hope for LGBTQ youth around the world.
Paraguay: Meanwhile, It Gets Better Paraguay was busy participating in the first module of a workshop for a leadership school in Oviedo where they educated and empowered young people on topics of human rights.
Greece: Finally, It Gets Better Greece marched at both Pride events in Athens and Thessaloniki. “Ήταν ένα εξαίσιο (It was exquisite!)” they said.
Our rainbow footprints are all over the world.
5 It Gets Better Videos That Will Keep Your Pride Going
Since 2010, the It Gets Better Project has collected over 60,000 video stories from LGBTQ people and their allies from around the world. Here are some of our favorites from June 2017.
1. Advice From Your Favorite Drag Queens - DragCon 2017
At this year’s DragCon, we met up with some of RuPaul Drag Race’s most wise & hilarious drag queens to ask them for the advice they’d give young people in today’s LGBTQ community.
2. Older Generation Tells Younger Generation: “It Gets Better” - SAGE Table
We partnered with SAGE Table to start conversations with LGBTQ community members of varying generations and backgrounds. Among them were social media creator Shannon Beveridge, Matthieu Dahdah, our own intern McKenna Palmer, and more. The crux: how can we change our future without knowing our past?
3. President Michelle Bachelet - President of Chile
President Michelle Bachelet advocates for the LGBTQI youths of Chile – for their talents and abilities through which a more democratic, inclusive, and tolerant Chile will be built.
“There is a world of possibilities waiting for you,” she promises. [Though she says: “hay un mundo lleno de posibilidades esperándolos”]
4. Todo Mejora - Google Mexico
Google employees assure others from the LGBTQ community that the future is for them – that it’s for everyone, and that they don’t need to worry about being “normal.”
“Normality” is a beautifully diverse world, they assert.
5. Berivan Aslan - Member of Austrian Parliament
In her video, Berivan Aslan fully condemns the bullying & violence toward the LGBTQ community and emphasizes that we will make it better.
Es Wird Besser Österreich (Austria)
Craving more?! Go to www.itgetsbetter.org, or keep scrolling to learn more about the cool things It Gets Better and its affiliates are doing around the world.
COLOMBIA: It Gets Better Colombia participated in Pride Month by Marching through Bucaramanga. They invited participants to share their photos using the hashtag #unamarchalgbt
MÉXICO: Our team in México also marched for Pride! Check out their photos across Mexico City on their Facebook here, along with other organized Pride marches alongside the U.S. Embassy, AT&T, Nielson, and more.
CHILÉ: Our affiliate in Chile has launched a new campaign #PorUnFinalFeliz which hopes to provide welfare and assistance to LGBTQ adolescents targeted by bullying or who otherwise have suicidal thoughts. For information on how to contribute, access more information here.
“This month, Converse has launched a Pride collection of sneakers in its classic silhouette, with all net proceeds going to fund the It Gets Better Project and the Happy Hippie Foundation“
Didja know about this guys?
if pride is your aesthetic, you can buy some shoes here. thanks!
Our executive director Brian Wenke spoke with Youth Today about It Gets Better, sharing both his personal story and elaborating on the message of our project.
Life really does get better for most LGBT teens as they get older, say researchers at Northwestern University.
They followed 231 LGBT 16- to 20-year-olds, contacting each of them six times during a 3½- year period. Researchers published their results in the Journal of Adolescent Health in March 2015, showing, in general, victimization and psychological distress decreased as the youth grew older.
Wenke says one reason the change happens is because “as we age, we learn to recognize the bullies and also to find people who share our value system and can support us.”
“We learn resilience as we age.”
Our own Dan Savage – who founded It Gets Better btw – was featured in this list of exemplary Queer Podcasts for his project Savage Lovecast, essentially a podcast version of his weekly sex & relationship advice column.
Also featured in the list are The Read, Homoground (featuring LGBTQ music artists), Pod Save the People, and more.
You can access Savage Lovecast here.
“So, I found my power through that pen and paper….
Don’t give up hope. I feel like I’m a perfect example of, just like, I thought I had seen it all. And, you know, I thought for me life was over with…
So, for me, it’s to tell the young people to not give up. Believe. Dream. Never stop dreaming. Never give up.”
Shea Diamond dedicates her new song “Seen It All” to the It Gets Better Project.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Shea Diamond grew up idolizing 1) her mother 2) divas, singing into their mics with their souls on their sleeves.
As a homeless teenager looking for funds to proceed with MTF transition, Shea committed a crime that resulted in her incarceration for ten years. Throughout that time, the emotions, memories, struggle, and power accumulated within her, a large source for the breathtaking music she puts out today. As she says, “I found my power through that pen and paper.”
She remembers what it was like being among people who didn’t understand, she remembers fellow transgender young people running away from home and finding themselves on the streets. Some of them committed suicide, she recalls, and before she first began transitioning she too had the overwhelming feeling of being trapped in an existence she couldn’t live in anymore. Everyone around her was happy, it seemed, yet she couldn’t find that same happiness because she couldn’t be herself.
“I was the best actress in the world,” she says, regarding having to pretend to be the gender she wasn’t. But, through community, she came to understand that she wasn’t alone – that she wasn’t so different after all, and that there are so many people who have the same experience as her.
It is with this knowledge that she found hope. And now she urges all young people: believe, dream, don’t give up hope. After all, she thought she had seen it all, and faced greater obstacles than most which seemed unsurpassable, nevertheless she never gave up. She persisted. She knows it gets better, and she wants you to know too.
Shea’s story of perseverance is one that all LGBTQ young people need to hear. The It Gets Better Project is honored to have a voice like Shea’s to share this message of hope.
Shea is currently writing music with Justin Tranter, who is producing her upcoming album. In the past, Tranter has written songs for Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Halsey, Fifth Harmony, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, DNCE, and Fall Out Boy.
The message was aglow with joy, gratitude, and perhaps most importantly, comfort.
“I can’t believe it was real,” they effused. “I got to be myself and live the way I wanted.”
All while studying for AP exams, high school student Blair Smith fundraised, advertised, and organized an event that would be a lasting, enduring memory for so many of his peers: a Pride Prom.
Attended by an overwhelming amount of enthusiastic LGBTQ young people, Smith – unsurprised by the success – credits his & his fellow organizers’ hard work to their passion to provide an unforgettable night of happiness, fun, and comfort for young people who perhaps didn’t think it was even possible.
By partnering with local LGBTQ advocacy organizations including NOVA Pride and the Trevor Project, Smith demonstrates how much power one person can have to make things better for themselves, and for those in the community alongside them.
not gonna lie i MAY have cried.
It’s incredible to see the progress that has been made which allows younger generations of LGBTQ people to live openly & participate in these traditional moments in a way that is true to who they are.
There’s a long way to go – but at the same time, photo series like this shows us how far we’ve come, and offers so much encouragement as we keep going.
assignedmale