It Got Better Docuseries looks at the other side of It Gets Better to inspire LGBT youth

Throughout the month of June Miratel has been celebrating Pride Month and Toronto hosting the first ever North American World Pride event with a series of LGBT-positive posts like Toronto #WorldPride Month Kicks off with #ProudToPlay, the 10 Most Gay Friendly Countries in the World and the 10 best cities for LGBT 20-Somethings.

Today I’m writing about the latest It Gets Better Project called It Got Better, an online docuseries created in collaboration with Dan Bucatinsky, Lisa Kudrow and L/Studio. The It Gets Better Project works to help LGBT youth dealing with discrimination and hardship. While the world is becoming a more tolerant and accepting place, cyber and face-to-face bullying remain very real issues.

Image courtesy of itgetsbetter.org

Dan Savage, a columnist and author, created the It Gets Better Project in response to a number of students who took their lives due to bullying with the mission to “communicate to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth around the world that it gets better, and to create and inspire the changes needed to make it better for them.”  This began as a “YouTube video with Savage and his partner Terry Miller to inspire hope for young people facing harassment.”

It Gets Better launched in 2010 and since that time, it has become a global movement with “50,000 user-created videos viewed more than 50 million times.” In fact, celebrities from all walks of life have made videos including “President Barack Obama, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Adam Lambert, Anne Hathaway, Colin Farrell, Matthew Morrison of “Glee”, Joe Jonas, Joel Madden, Ke$ha, Sarah Silverman, Tim Gunn, Ellen DeGeneres, Suze Orman, the staffs of The Gap, Google, Facebook, Pixar, the Broadway community, and many more. “ The message the project is successfully sending is that despite the darkness and desperation that may surround you, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It will get better and the latest project – It Got Better – looks at the other side of it getting better.

It Got Better is a six-episode docuseries telling the inspiring stories of a diverse cross-section from the LGBT community namely: Glee’s Jane Lynch, basketball player Jason Collins, Project Runway’s Tim Gunn, musicians’ Tegan & Sara, famed actor George Takei and Orange Is the New Black’s Laverne Cox. The hope is that these “insightful personal accounts from the most recognizable faces in the LGBT community provide a way for young people and adults alike to experience the unparalleled victory that is self-acceptance.”

It can be extremely hard for LGBT youth coming into their own and dealing with a world that projects an image of “normal” that does not apply to them – it’s painful to feel on the outside for being who you were born to be. These personal accounts from known celebrities prove you’re not alone – others have been there. The details may be different but the emotions and pain are the same. Sometimes just knowing it’s not you will help LGBT youth through the struggle of self love and acceptance.

Take a moment and watch George Takei’s video below and then head over to L/Studio to watch the others. Happy Pride everyone! Share your story or join the conversation today with #MYWORLDPRIDE

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWL3xmjhC3c[/youtube]

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