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Presentation for Professor Kathy Gill's COM 495 Digital Communication Technologies class at the University of Washington.
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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/