From Out in the Locker Room, Jeff Kagan's blog archive of his LGBT sport journalism, a look at the It Gets Better program, those that have contributed, and those who are conspicuous by their absence:One year ago, sex columnist and author Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner Terry Miller in response to the suicide of Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old high school student who faced seemingly unending ridicule and torment by fellow students for being gay. Savage felt there needed to be a way to communicate directly to troubled LGBT teens who were dealing with bullying, in most cases related to their actual or perceived sexual orientation. He and his partner Terry Miller created a 9-minute video and placed it on YouTube. In the video the two openly spoke about homophobic issues they faced in their youth, but more importantly, how much better their lives became after high school.
Within the first two months of Savage’s video being posted, nearly 10,000 people recorded their own videos giving thousands of LGBT teens a reason to carry on with their lives and look forward to the future rather than dwell on the not-so-good-present. “It gets better.”
Celebrities, politicians, activists and people of all walks of life soon added their own stories via personal videos, sharing experiences and giving testimony to how their lives had improved since high school. The stories came from within the gay community, but also from many straight allies who offered words of support and encouragement. Even President Obama recorded a video telling LGBT teens,“It will get better.” He continued, “More than that, in time you’ll see that your differences are a source of pride and a source of strength. You’ll look back on the struggles you’ve faced with compassion and wisdom.”
Visibility by the gay community in entertainment, fashion, politics and many other fields has become quite the standard in the past few years, however, the one area which has yet to breach the “pink barrier” is the wide world of professional sports. Sports are generally considered to be the final frontier on dealing with homophobia and acceptance of the gay community. Of the four major sports leagues in the United States (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL), there has yet to be a single athlete to come out of the closet while still actively playing the game. The few who have come out did so after retiring, many citing fear that their sexual orientation would create problems with their career and their lives as professional athletes.
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