It Gets Better

In analyzing how the gay community uses the internet, the first example I thought of was the recent rise of the "It Gets Better" campaign. A response to the recent reports of gay teen suicides, the campaign asks gay/lesbian/bisexual/transexual (LGBT) people, as well as prominent national and local celebrities, to create videos aimed at young LGBTs to tell them that life may be hard now, but that it DOES get better.

I've seen a large number of these videos, and the people who contribute range from your standard LGBT adult all the way to President Obama. The videos interview people from politics and religion, pop culture and indie culture. One that really stood out to me was this video, an interview of Gene Robinson, the bishop of New Hampshire. He does an excellent job of bridging the gap between being gay and being religious, since there is a general feeling that the two cannot, and will not mix. The video really touched me, even as someone who is both straight and non-religious, to see that there is someone in the religious community who is both a prominent religious figure and gay, because he has a unique way of providing support to LGBT teens who feel like they are wrong, or that God doesn't love them.

The spread of the "It Gets Better" campaign has made it famous, and people all across the country are watching these videos and getting support from others out there, both gay and straight, famous and non-famous. These videos are from the heart, and are a perfect example of a great way that a minority group has used the internet to reach out to others across the country, and even across the world.