Are you familiar with the “It Gets Better” campaign? It is a grass-roots video campaign that was developed after the horrible spate of LGBT teen suicides this past year, to encourage LGBT youth to hang in there, because life DOES get better.
This campaign has now taken off, not only featuring videos from people around the country, but straight allies (President Obama), prominent gay individuals (Bishop Gene Robinson), and lots of organizations (Google, Apple…) .
Now it’s our turn. The St Paul’s community not only has a lot of LGBT people who can personally testify that it DOES get better, but we also have phenomenal straight allies. We can all witness to a faith community that welcomes everyone, and offers a sanctuary from the negative signals LGBT youth often receive on the “outside”.
The message we want to send to these kids is simple: you are loved, you are wanted, and there is hope.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Whether you are straight or LGBT; lay or clergy, we need you!
1) Participate! We need people who are willing to be filmed (singly or as a couple) and give a short message of hope. The key is to be very brief (a few sentences at most) so we can include as many people as possible. Here are a few prompts for examples.
- What was your high school experience (“I never fit in…”)
- When did it start to get better (“I was really happy in college…”)
- Where are you now (“I’m happily married….”)
- Spirituality (“I have a faith home that welcomes me…”)
- Words of encouragement (“Hang in there, you have so much to offer…”)
- Finishing words: “It gets better!”
2) Help organize! Jim Langston has kindly volunteered to record and edit, but we need to sort out content and organize the recording sessions and participants.
3) Spread the word! the more members of the community who participate, the better.
Interested? Send me an email at stpaulblog@gmail.com and we’ll get started.
This message is also copied on a dedicated blog page at http://biz252.inmotionhosting.com/~stpaul51/p/it-gets-better.html.
Susan Forsburg, blogmaster
