It Gets Better

Tyler Clementi, age 18.

Billy Lucas, age 15.

Harrison Chase Brown, age 15

Cody J. Barker, age 17

Seth Walsh, age 13

Those are a few of the names of the teenagers who have recently commited suicide because of homophobic harrassment. They couldn't see that there was a life worth living past all of the bullying. And because nobody had the courage to speak out to them, they will never have the chance to know that life gets better.

Writer, Dan Savage has created something to prevent more tregedies as described above. He and his husband, Terry Miller, created a Youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcVyvg2Qlo) to tell the LGBT community that there is much more that makes life worth living. A week later, there were over there were over 1000 response video and thus, the It Gets Better Project was born.

As an American teenager, it is not uncommon that I have had periods of severe depression in my adolecency. And as a member of the LGBT community, depression tends to hit us harder than most. So unfortunately, yes, I've had suicidal thoughts before. When my closest friend discovered the pitiful state I was in, she sat me down and made me watch some of the videos of this program and I realized that no matter how hard life gets, it's not up to me to decide when it should end. If I had chosen to go through with those tragic ideas, I'd have missed out on so much.

Of course I'm going to go through bad times. It's virtually impossible to avoid.

• I've been pushed against walls
• Told I was going to hell
• Called a fag
• Emasculated
• Beaten up
• And kicked out of my grandmother's house. (My "grandfather's" words were "Get out and don't come back until you know how to be a man!")

But I never let myself forget all of the blessings I have.

• I have extremely supportive parents, especially my mom. (She once punched my grandfather in the face when she heard him say the word "fag" in reference to me.)
• I have plenty of friends that greet me with smiles and hugs every day upon meeting me.
• I have more than enough people that I can talk to about my problems.
• Most importantly, I have a wonderful boyfriend who does everything he can to make sure that I'm taken care of and smiling. (insert dreamy sigh here)

All in all, if I'd decided to "pull the plug," I wouldn't have been able to see the future. I'm glad I know now that life gets better.