Conservative Party leader David Cameron
touts Britain's gay rights laws in an It Gets Better video to support
troubled gay teens.
In the video, Cameron, the nation's
prime minister, says Britain is “a place where you can be who you
want to be.”
“Today, same-sex couples can have
their relationship legally recognized,” he says. “People in our
armed forces can be open about who they are. Equality laws are
fighting discrimination at work and in society.” (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page.)
Sex advice columnist Dan Savage, who
founded the project, sounded impressed.
“Holy shit – color me shocked,
floored, and grateful,” he
wrote at Slog, the blog of Seattle's alternative weekly The
Stranger. “And this is the leader of the Conservative
Party in the UK. Try to picture a Republican politician making an
IGBP video – not one that I'm aware of has – much less the leader
of the GOP.”
Savage, however, knocked off points for
Cameron's suggestion that troubled gay teens should seek help from
their parents.
“Between twenty and forty percent of
homeless teenagers are LGBT kids and most of these homeless LGBT kids
were thrown out of their homes when they came out or were outed to
their families.”
“Bullied LGBT kids should be
encouraged to reach out, to find help, to seek support,” he added.
“But that support, sadly, can't always be found at home.”
To his credit, Savage noted that
Democratic leaders – including President
Barack Obama and Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton – also offered similar advice in their
It Gets Better Project videos.