In the early fall of 2010, the mainstream media began highlighting a troubling trend: a pattern of suicides among adolescents who’d been bullied for being gay or seeming to be gay.
Dan Savage, the prominent author, editor, and advice columnist, experienced this news with a mix of anger and sadness. Savage, who is gay, found himself wishing he could tell every bullied high school student that adulthood is worth living for — and that the rough teenage years will soon pass. He knew this because he went through it himself.
What he wanted to tell bullied LGBT adolescents is this: “It gets better.”
The Idea
Savage got an idea, and he took action. The initial step was small: On September 21, 2010, Savage and his husband, Terry, created a channel on YouTube called “It Gets Better Project.” The first video they posted was their own. In this simple, low-budget clip, which would ultimately earn more than 1 million views, Dan and Terry shared their stories of adolescent survival and the happiness they’ve found as adults.
This straightforward concept quickly went viral. As Savage and his husband had hoped, others began filling the channel with their own filmed tales of survival and resilience. The response was fast, viral, emotionally powerful, and ultimately overwhelming.
Savage quickly realized that he needed help to capitalize on the energy the project had unleashed. That’s when he turned to Blue State Digital.
The Website
Over the course of a few days, BSD worked with Savage to design and build a dynamic website to increase the project’s momentum and transform it into an engine of change. The website we built together is driven by two powerful integrated technologies: the BSD Tools and ExpressionEngine. In addition to gathering all the videos into a convenient, searchable place, the website solicits new videos, it also features an action-oriented pledge campaign that urges visitors to speak out against anti-LGBT bullying and reassure LGBT teens that everything’s going to turn out okay.
In the two months following Dan and Terry’s initial clip, more than 5,000 videos were added to the channel and more than 100,000 people had joined the project’s Facebook page. Prominent video contributors include President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and celebrities ranging from Kathy Griffin and Tim Gunn to Ke$ha and Adam Lambert.
To see the project’s website and sign the pledge, visit itgetsbetterproject.com.
The BSD Tools
Thanks to the power of the BSD Tools, the project has garnered tens of thousands of email signups — and assembled a passionate and sympathetic group whose support can be reactivated for similar campaigns in the future.
The Tools have also guided the success of other aspects of the project:
- Fundraising. Donations to the campaign directly benefit The Trevor Project (a suicide hotline for LGBT youth) and GLSEN (which creates safe spaces in schools for LGBT youth).
- User-Generated Content. The BSD Tools have enabled the collection and sharing of powerful written stories that highlight the project’s central message: It does get better.
- Social Media and Outreach. The BSD Tools’ integrated Facebook and Twitter functionality has allowed supporters to share their commitment to the project within their own personal networks, increasing the visibility of the campaign.
The BSD Tools have allowed the It Gets Better Project to organize and direct the immense support of the LGBT community and other activists into a cohesive and unified movement. Having already exceeded 16 million views on ItGetsBetterProject.com and YouTube, the campaign has inspired communities across America to take action and show their support.