By Connor Small
Staff Writer
The creator of the “It Gets Better” Project spoke about his experiences growing up gay and his motivation for creating the video project in a speech on Monday.
Author Dan Savage founded the campaign with his husband Terry Miller in 2010 following the suicide of 15-year-old Billy Lucas as a result of homophobic bullying. Savage and Miller decided to create a YouTube video explaining their own personal struggles with growing up gay in hopes of reaching out to LBGT youth. The couple encouraged others to create their own testimonials describing how it got better for them and at the time, hoped for 100 videos. By January 2011, the project had over 5,000 user-created testimonials.
Savage is editorial director of Seattle newspaper The Stranger. He has written four books, appeared on numerous television networks and writes his own syndicated column called “Savage Love.” On Monday, he described growing up as a gay teen and explained in his own unique mix of blunt, crass humor and sharp intelligence the details of the project. Many times, he said, it is the teen’s own parents who bully and abuse children, and religion often plays a large role in the attempts to assist LGBT youth with their struggles.
Students found Savage’s words inspiring.
“I saw my first ‘It Gets Better’ video while I was abroad in London last fall. Then, coincidentally, Bucknell participated in the campaign last spring. I thought that there would be no better way to raise awareness about LGBT bullying and the ‘It Gets Better’ campaign then to have Dan Savage himself come and share his story! So working with Lambda and FLAGBT, I believe he came and gave a moving–and very open–talk about what it means to be gay and bullied, and why it needs to stop. His honesty coupled with a bit of humor, I think, was an excellent way for students to connect and engage with him,” Phil Kim ’12 said.
Other students appreciated Savage’s talk, but questioned whether he was preaching to the choir.
“It’s truly amazing how logical he was as he explained his motives and his success stories. However, the talk would have been more useful if more bigots had come,” Evan Kaufman ’12 said.
During the Q&A session, one student asked how we as students can get involved and help LGBT students on campus, to which Savage said: “You’re doing it by being here.”
For more information on the “It Gets Better” Project, go to www.itgetsbetter.org