Thirteen Democratic U.S. senators on
Wednesday released an 'It Gets Better' video urging troubled gay teens
to hang in there.
Begun by gay activist Dan Savage, the
It Gets Better
Project has already received support from leading Democrats,
including President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi. The campaign encourages LGBT teens contemplating suicide to
not cave in to bullies, because life eventually gets better.
In their nearly 5 minute video, the
senators say they have gay friends and encourage troubled gay youth
to ask for help.
“[A] number of my friends in middle
school and high school and college had been gay but had hidden it,”
says Delaware Senator Christopher Coons.
“Two decades later, many of my
friends in college came over to me and said, “You know, back in
college I was gay, but I couldn't say anything. I just wanted you to
know,'” says New York Senator Charles Schumer, who came out in
favor of gay marriage last year.
“What makes us unique,” Illinois
Senator Dick Durbin starts off, “and what makes us different,”
California Senator Dianne Feinstein says, “is actually what makes
us special,” adds Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page.)
Also included in the video are Senators
Mark Udall of Colorado, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Ron Wyden of
Oregon, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Maria Cantwell of
Washington, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Al Franken of
Minnesota and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.