IT GETS BETTER: WHY NOW?

• Political climate in U.S. (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and gay marriage) creating a cultural rift

• Rise in bullying of gay teens resulting in an epidemic of highly publicized suicides in 2010

• Statistics*– 9 out of 10 GLBT students have experienced harassment at school

– GLBT teens are bullied 2 to 3 times as much as straight teens

– More than 1/3 of GLBT kids have attempted suicide

– GLBT kids are 4 times as likely to attempt suicide then our straight peers

– GLBT youth with “highly rejecting” families are 8 times more likely to attempt suicide than those whose families accept them

* Source: It Gets Better Project Web site http://bit.ly/cCZSl5

IT GETS BETTER: ORIGIN/IMPETUS

• Partnership with The Trevor Project and GLSEN• Origin of campaign is two pronged:

– Provide an outlet for supporters to share their stories and lend their voice to the cause

– Inspire and offer resources for GLBT youth that are considering suicide as a result of bullying

• September 21, 2010 Dan and his partner Terry filmed the first It Gets Better video and posted it to a YouTube channel for the campaign

• The next day Tyler Clementi, Rutgers University student, committed suicide as a result of cyber bullying by two classmates

• Tyler was one of five gay teens who committed suicide in just a three week period, the youngest of whom was 13

IT GETS BETTER: CELEBRITY SUPPORT

• Celebrities lend their voice and record videos for the It Gets Better Project– September 28, 2010: Lala and Ciara

– October 4, 2010: Chris Colfer, Sarah Silverman, Kathy Griffin, Jenny McCarthy, Anne Hathaway, Rex Lee, Michael Chiklis

– October 5, 2010: Ke$ha, Tim Gunn

– October 6, 2010: Zachary Quinto

– October 9, 2010: Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stones

IT GETS BETTER: CORPORATE SUPPORT

• Major corporations record employee videos for It Gets Better Project– October 19, 2010: Google

– October 26, 2010: Facebook

– November 3, 2010: Gap

– November 22, 2010: Pixar Studios

IT GETS BETTER: GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

• Government leaders record videos for It Gets Better Project– October 19, 2010: Secretary of

State Hillary Clinton– October 21, 2010: President

Obama– October 22, 2010: Speaker of

the House Nancy Pelosi– November 17, 2010: Vice

President Joe Biden

IT GETS BETTER: IMPACT/RESULTS

• In just two months over 6,000 videos have been submitted receiving over 15 million views

• Since the campaigns launch, calls to the Trevor Project suicide hotline have increased 50%

• It Gets Better Project book in the works

IT GETS BETTER: IMPACT/RESULTS

• Awareness via mainstream pop culture: – Glee– Ellen– Anti-bullying PSA’s on

network TV• Public accountability:

– Clint McCance, Arkansas school board district member, resigns after posting gay slurs on Facebook

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT

It Gets Better Project: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/

The Trevor Project: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/

GLSEN:www.glsen.org/