ART PHAG: Trust me, it gets better

POSTED: Tuesday, October 12, 2010, 8:00 PM

Filed Under: Critical Mass | LGBTQ Art Phag

Kids can be major assholes. It's true. I'm sure you remember what it was like being picked on in school — and your only problem was that huge booger dangling out of your nose at recess. Yea, I know you had to hear about it forever, but imagine trying to be a gay kid. No matter how hard you try, there's no way you can get rid of that extra swish and careless wrist, it's there for good. But daggone it, that's something to be proud of. With homosexuality becoming a more prominent theme on television, and in movies and music, kids are beginning to come out earlier than ever before. This is great in certain aspects, but it also puts them right in line for some old-fashioned playground bullying. Gays have been at the brunt of too many jokes for far too long. It's time to make a change, to start instilling young gay people with a sense of pride at an early age. To get the ball rolling, Savage Love columnist Dan Savage has spearheaded a YouTube campaign, asking LGBTQ adults to convey a message that it may be tough being gay early on, but one day it will pass. It's called the It Gets Better Project, and it's based on one simple theme:

THE PLEDGE: We are the kids who have been bullied for being gay, lesbian, bi or trans. We pledge to stay open and strong. We are also the friends, family members, teachers, mentors, and allies of anyone who's ever felt like they didn't fit in, gay or straight. We pledge to talk to the kids in our lives to put an end to the hate, violence, and tragedy — and to offer advice on coping, strategies to make it better, and to remind kids that It Gets Better.

So far, tens of thousands of people, including celebs like Eve, Jakes Shears from Scissor Sisters and Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet (above), have made a contribution. Check out some of the videos HERE, and consider taking the pledge. The more support that gets generated, the less we'll have to deal with things like teenage suicides and hate crimes that stem from someone struggling to be accepted for who they are. We can turn this thing around!

ambiguator

Posted 2010-10-12 16:37:23

I love Dan Savage, and god bless him for starting this affirmative meme.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves, eh?

Consider:
Dan Savage: white
Sia: white
Jakes Shears: white
Jesse Tyler Ferguson: white
Eric Stonestreet: white

For white, middle-class, liberal urbanites, being queer is becoming socially acceptable. However, despite their over-representation in the mainstream media, those folks make up just one slice of the queer population.

For everyone else, queers of color, poor queers, queers in the country, conservative queers: I hate to break it to you, but it does not get better. And it will not get better until the lgbtqts(etc) civil rights movement figures out how to bridge the gap between these minority groups.

Josh Middleton

Posted 2010-10-12 17:12:22

You bring up some great points, ambiguator. It's hard to say it will get better for everyone, but every ounce of effort inches us closer to bridging the gap you mentioned between civil rights movers and minority groups. 

Thankfully, in my case and in many others, a lot of queer people choose to leave the small towns that inhibit them for larger, more accepting metropolises. Just like with everything, however, it's not always possible for EVERYONE to be able to make these transitions. We could only hope. 

And as for the buttload of whities I unleashed on everyone in the post, there are many people of color who have contributed from all over the country. Here are a few links to check. 

Here's one by Eve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaMdllWsqno&feature=player_embedded

And others:
http://www.itgetsbetterproject.com./#M0t6mjf9BiM
http://www.itgetsbetterproject.com/video/entry/1429/
http://www.itgetsbetterproject.com/video/entry/645/
http://www.itgetsbetterproject.com/video/entry/671/

Thanks for your insightful words. I don't mean my response as a rebut, but more of an amicable different take. Have a good night.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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