• Monday, November 01, 2010 |
This past month in the United States, a handful of gay teens had been harassed, taunted, and bullied to the point where they had felt defeated and the only solution was to end it all. Asher Brown (13, Texas), Seth Walsh (13, California), Billy Lucas (15, Indiana), Tyler Clementi (18, New Jersey), and Raymond Chase (19, Rhode Island) are among those that had committed suicide due to these homophobic hate crimes; however, these five highly publicized teens are just the tip of the iceberg.
During any person's teenage years it can be quite a confusing time when it comes to fitting in and figuring how who they are-- especially teenagers who are confused about their sexual identity and orientation. Supporters of the GLBT community (among many celebrities) began a huge highly publicized movement on YouTube called "It gets better". The "It gets better" campaign are videos letting people who suffer from these homophobic hate crimes know that it does get better, to hold on, and not to give up on life. Among the people involved are: Ellen DeGeneres, Ciara, La La, Adam Lambert, Ke$ha, Jewel, the cast of Chicago and Wicked, various marines, and just recently Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. Those names are only a small volume of voices that have spoken out on this issue and have given their videos and stories to the "It gets better" project.