Aubrey Sarvis, the executive director
of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), says being gay is a
plus in an 'It Gets Better' video.
The It Gets Better Project begun by gay
activist Dan Savage has received enormous support from Hollywood, the
business community and leading Democrats, including President Barack
Obama. The campaign encourages LGBT teens contemplating suicide to
not cave in to bullies, because life eventually gets better.
In its five-minute-twenty-six-second
video released on Tuesday, the men and women behind the largest group
lobbying for repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the Clinton-era
law that bans gay and bisexual troops from serving openly, tell
troubled gay teens how it got better for them.
“I know what it's like to be a
teenager and have a difficult situation and have a secret or have a
tough life because others think you are different,” says Mike Almy,
who was discharged under the law.
Almy adds that he struggled through a
13-year career in the Air Force concealing his sexual orientation.
“It gets better because more and more
people care about you,” Sarvis says. “It gets better also
because more people appreciate the differences that you have. So,
see your being different as a plus.” (The video is embedded in the
right panel of this page.)