NASA Says It Gets Better

From the Johnson Space Center near Houston:

It Gets Better: John Corvino

From his YouTube channel:

John Corvino, also known as "The Gay Moralist," is chair of the Philosophy Department at Wayne State University in Detroit. He is the author of What's Wrong with Homosexuality? and the co-author (with Maggie Gallagher) of Debating Same-Sex Marriage, both from Oxford Univ. Press. He has spoken at over 200 university campuses on ethics, sexuality, and marriage.

It Gets Better: Bishop Mark Hanson, ELCA

Ya know, guys, I'm very distressed with some of the well-known bloggers and other supposed representatives of the "gay community" whom I've noticed over the last several years have fallen into a pattern of bad-mouthing all Christians and all religion, often in highly profane and digusting ways. They do not speak for me, and I hope not for you.

By broadly lumping all believers into one class, without discriminating between the fantatics and the reasonable people of faith, these purported representatives of our cause are making themselves morally no better than the wild-eyed demagogues and bigots of the opposing side. They show themselves to be just as bigoted and just as tyrannical as their opponents, which disgusts me. The long, tragic history of humankind has shown times without number that it is but one small step from being oppressed to being an oppressor.

Religion is a human institution of many forms and varieties; and like all things human, is a mixture of good and evil. So are you and I, my friends. That is the human condition. It is up to us, individually and collectively, to discern the difference and to keep choosing the good whenever we can. Religion is and has been a great help to many, many millions of people in that way. Religion can also be misused as a weapon of oppression and ignorance, and should rightly be rebuked and condemned when it is; but the fanatical commenters amongst us do a great wrong when they ignore the power of faith to make people better human beings.

I could go on at some length here, but I think this video made by Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America makes the point - for those who have ears to hear.

It Gets Better: NYPD

Not to be outdone by the Mounties, now New York's finest have produced their own It Gets Better video:



A couple of those cops are pretty woofable.

It Gets Better: The Mounties

After two weeks of constant internet trouble, the problem seems to have been fixed by a hunky bearish type whom the phone company sent to my house yesterday. Unfortunately, he was straight as a board, but he did seem to know what he was doing; so maybe this fix will last, though I'm keeping my fingers crossed against another lapse of connection.

Meanwhile, here's an It Gets Better video made by Canada's finest. Enjoy.

It Gets Better: Austin Police Department

Austin is the state capital, home of the ginormous University of Texas, and a liberal oasis in a desert of hidebound conservatism. But this is amazing to see, a sign that times are changing even down here in Jesusland.




BTW - I would never have spotted any of the officers as family, would you?

It Gets Better - San Francisco Police Department

It Gets Better: Barney Frank

"But I Had Mom and Dad"

Dan Savage is not without his flaws, but he is an articulate spokesman and brilliant performer when speaking on heartfelt topics like the need to reach gay youth through the It Gets Better Project. Earlier this year, Dan spoke at the Kessler Theater in Dallas on parents, religion, bullying, and LGBT kids (some parts NSFW):





He also spoke at Rhodes College in Memphis:

Continued after the jump . . .

It Gets Better: "I Was the Bully"

A moving account by J.T. in south New Jersey:

It Gets Better: Accountant, Judge, Marine

Some moving testimonies from the It Gets Better Project.  The first one particularly resonates with me; as I've blogged about, when I was in the middle of my college career, I thought I wanted to be a CPA, and Ernst & Ernst (as it was then known) was one of the major accounting firms that my university had an internship program with.  Like the guys and gals in this video, I too had a dream of making big bucks and even seeing the world by working at their overseas offices.  But it was not to be:  thirty-five years ago, I couldn't imagine how I would relate to my peers as the solitary (so I thought) queer in the corporate office, so I dropped out, and majored in something totally different. 

Which perhaps was for the best, after all; it allowed me to indulge my queer faggot homo expressive side a bit more than accounting ever would have. Still, it would have been better not to live in fear and isolation.  And to have a choice.

I also at various times thought quite seriously about becoming an attorney, like my father, and about joining the military, ditto.  But again, a large part of what held me back was the fear of being different, of not fitting in, of not measuring up - of being shunned, or bullied, or even beaten.  And I simply couldn't imagine - had no clue - that there could possibly have been others like me in the same fields, to pal around and find support with.  Videos like these might have made a profound difference in the direction my life's course followed.

All water under the bridge now.  But I'm so glad the young generation has more and better choices.

Ernst & Young employees:




Judge Angela Bradstreet:




Corporal Andrew Stevens, USMC:

Southern Boys Say It Gets Better

Nate from South Carolina:



Matt from Maryland:



Kenn from Florida:



Larry from Texas:

It Gets Better: This Week's Faves

My God, how the world has changed in my lifetime.  Videos like this would have made a profound impression on me as a lonely gay teenager - this one is by staffers at White House - the White House, for God's sake:



And gay university presidents?  With their spouses?  Unthinkable back then, but yup:



And who could ever have imagined a gay softball team - in Austin, Texas?  A great message from the Gay World Series champs, who can beat the straight boys at their own game and make 'em like it:



Ditto from the San Francisco Track and Field Club:



At the other end of the scale, international drag queens have a fabulous message too:



An Eagle Scout says you can be true to your oath and be true to yourself too:



Adobe Systems employees say it got a lot better for them:



So do Etsy employees:



Asian-American kids catch a lot of flack from the parents but say don't let that hold you down:



Even way over on the other side of the world, it gets better in Singapore, too:



And even with ultra-conservative Catholic Republican parents, Chris Kelly says stick it out, it only gets better:




And to top it all off, this is not an IGB video, but you gotta hear this story from Hank Chen, which made your Head Trucker spew coffee all over the keyboard:

It Gets Better: This Week's Faves

EA employees:



D.C. Gay Flag Football League:



Lonely Planet employees:



TELUS employees:



Dow employees:



Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice:



And for all you Whos out there in Whoville:

It Gets Better: More Gay Jocks

Awesome video from the Atlanta Bucks Rugby Football Club:



The Kansas City Carnivores:



The San Francisco Fog:



Front Runners New York:



And a couple weeks ago, I posted an It Gets Better video from the Boston FLAG flag football league, but here's one that shows off their, um, dance moves. Gotta love it:

It Gets Better - This Week's Faves

Thomas Roberts, MSNBC:



The University of Southern California:



Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C.:



Tammy from rural Canada:



Cher and the cast of Burlesque:



Feather Boa Fathers:

It Gets Better: This Week's Faves

Not blogging much this week.  Just not in a mood to write.  There've been been several stories from Texas and around the country and the world that in a different mood I might have something to say about - but the holidays are not something I enjoy at this late age, for several good reasons.  And I just don't have the heart right now to blog about the various unhappy or hurtful or hateful things people have said or done.  I reckon you guys are keeping up with all that via the newsy blogs I link to in the side column, if you want to.

Mainly I'm just puttering around the house here, working on one little project or another, nothing worth mentioning.  No turkey day for me this week.  But the ex-roommate and I are going to get together next week for our monthly dinner, and he's a good cook so that will be nice.

Meanwhile, about all I can come up with to post are some well-done or noteworthy videos from the It Gets Better Project.  Times have changed, are changing, will change for the better - eventually.  Not sure how much more change I'll see in my lifetime, but here's my tiny contribution to hope.  All I can do for now.


The Honorable Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States:



The leader of Her Majesty's Government, the Right Honourable David Cameron:



Lance Corporal James Wharton of the British Army:



Specialist Drury, United States Army, Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan:



Scott Zumwalt, of an illustrious American military family:



Boston's FLAG Flag Football League:



Employees of Pixar Animation Studios:



Andy and Jason, from Chicago:



Micah Jesse was bullied starting in preschool:



Students at Princeton University:



Sally Field and friends:




And finally, the Pop Luck Club proves that the impossible is . . . very possible after all:

Sunday Drive: Todrick Hall

It Gets Better: This Week's Faves

Your Head Trucker shares some of the best videos he found at the It Gets Better Project this week.


Michael Ignatieff, Liberal Party leader and perhaps the next Prime Minister of Canada:



Will grew up near Tallahassee, Florida:



Kevin and William in Chicago:



University of Michigan Law School students:



"A bunch of fun lesbians":



Orthodox Jews:



Barbara Gaines, a producer for the Letterman show:



University of Alabama students:



Pennsylvania:



Staff of the Human Rights Campaign:



The NOH8 Campaign:



The Colorado theater community:



The Yale School of Drama:



And finally, B.D. has something to show you - but you have to be very, very quiet:

It Gets Better - This Week's Faves

First up, for my Canadian truckbuddies, some names and faces that should be familiar to you:



And here's Mike Chalut, Toronto radio/TV personality and president of ManCrunch, talking about how hard it was coming out to his very religious parents:



Mary, a straight mother of three, makes a very important point about the courage it takes to be gay:



Adam Lambert:



Suze Orman:



New York lawyers testify that it gets better:



Gap employees say it gets better:



Anthony in Mobile, Alabama, draws a picture of the happy gay life he's determined to have:



When David came out to his missionary parents, they tried to cast the demons out of him:



Excellent video from many members of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS:



Jean, a transsexual lesbian from Maine, shares an amazing story of courage and triumph:




And finally, the pièce de résistance:  Ten years later, Herman met up with his high-school bully again - and girlfriend, you just have to hear him tell it: