It Gets Better

http://www.youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject

A video channel that provides support and encouragement to gay teens who face adversity, discrimination and bullying in high school.

Created by Dan Savage and his husband, each video will feature a role model sharing personal experiences that illustrate that life for gays and lesbians improves beyond high school.  He’s also soliciting videos from fans who want to provide support and encouragement to gay teens who face adversity, discrimination and bullying in high school.
This is their debut video:



~A&L

85 Nations Agree: Gay People Deserve Protection From Discrimination

On March 22, 2011 eighty five nations joined together and signed a statement appropriately titled: “Ending Acts of Violence and Related Human Rights Violations Based On Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.”  Up 15 nations from the latest attempt in 2008, this updated version includes many references not seen in either of the previous statements, including; welcoming attention to LGBT issues as a part of the Universal Periodic Review process, noting the increased attention to LGBT issues in regional human rights fora, encouraging the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue addressing LGBT issues, and calls for states to end criminal sanctions based on LGBT status.
Not only did the statement address basic human rights such as expressing "concern at continued evidence in every region of acts of violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity brought to the Council’s attention by Special Procedures since that time, including killings, rape, torture and criminal sanctions"; but also praised the advances and developments in solving these issues over recent years. Though not everyone signed the statement, ie...Nigeria (invoking heterosexuality, God, and saying that both men and women are needed to make babies), Russia, and Pakistan, whom spoke on behalf of the 57 nations in which Muslim people are a majority.  Countries that did sign the statement include: Paraguay, Ukraine, Uruguay, the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Switzerland.

Though it's terrible that we live in a world where treating other people with kindness and equality needs to be forced upon us, it's definitely great to see that there are so many people on board with this Declaration of Human Rights.  As the United Nations Secretary General reminded us in his address in January 2011, "the Universal Declaration guarantees all human beings their basic rights without exception, and when individuals are attacked, abused or imprisoned because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, the international community has an obligation to respond."

You can read the statement itself at: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/03/158847.htm




A&L

NIck Kelo

Most people haven't even heard about this but on Feb 23 Nick Kelo a 13 year old boy from Akron, Ohio, allegedly shot him self in his home due to gay bullying. He was picked on terribly because he switched from football to band in his school, so people thought he "must be gay." How does joining band make someone gay? His family assured the public that he was not gay and that he was just a 13year old having a hard time. His mother said this to a Queerty;

"As the mother of Nick, I am asking you to take this story down immediately. You have plagiarized the well written report by Kim in the Akron Beacon Journal, you misinterpreted facts and you have wrongly accused my son of being gay. I am outraged and horrified. As the daughter of a gay mother I know the struggles of the gay community well. I do not appreciate you using my son as a poster child for your cause, there are enough good honest gay people who need your help, my son was not one of them.
My son's death was a tragic accident the resulted from his frustration of repeated bullying, yes, but it goes back years and is related more to his intellectual gifts and abilities. He was in no way suicidal or depressed. He was too smart for that. He was frustrated and angry and made an impulsive 13 year old error in judgment which led to a tragic accident due to the report from the lab that shows no gun powder residue on his hands. My son was not gay, your story is inaccurate and you are doing a huge disservice to both him, the children in this school who are bullied still today and the gay community.
Please retract this story immediately."

He was spit on and picked on to a terrible degree and what i don't understand is why his story is so unheard to the public. We heard so much about the other stories like this but most people didn't even hear about Nick and it feels like he has been forgotten about. Nick Kelo is just as important as anyone of the other tragic cases of  bullying and he deserves to have his story told and not forgotten about. I would like Nick's mom to know that we are not saying or assuming that her son was gay in any form and believe her when she says he was not. But we feel his story is incredibly important and we just want people to know how terrible gay bullying is even when you're using it against someone who is not gay such as Nick Kelo. No one should feel as if they need to take their own life. So this is Nick's story and we hope all of you will read it and not misinterpret it into something it's not. 

At the tender age of 13, Nicholas Kelo Jr. knew what it was like to be relentlessly bullied. It may have been what persuaded him to pry open a safe inside his Rittman home and remove the gun that killed him.
Each night when Nick's mother, Jacqueline, left the University of Akron, where she worked in the political science department, she would call her son and chat on her way home. When she came through the door, he routinely welcomed her with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and carrots. But something was terribly wrong Feb. 23.
''I called at 6:30 and there was no answer,'' said the grieving mother, her voice fading. ''And I kept calling. There was no answer.''
When she arrived home, she found Nick near death from a gunshot wound, lying on the living room floor.
''Deep down in our hearts, this was not a child who would have planned to take his life,'' said the boy's father, Nicholas Sr. ''He may have been bullied to the point that he felt like he needed to protect himself.''

Now Nick's mother said that the gun went off by accident and that Kelo never really meant to commit suicide but we do not know if that is true or not. Either way he was picked on because others thought he was gay and it's not fair for anyone to be treated like that. So whether he was gay or not or whether he really meant to hurt himself or not, he should have not been treated the way he was and his death was absolutely tragic. I will not be posting links to any of the stories about him due to the sensitivity of his mother saying that what other websites are posting are untrue. We do not want to post anything false or tell a story that is taken out of context. We feel horrible for his family and we wish his mother and the rest of his family the best in this tragic time of their lives. 
A&L

Lady Gaga Gay Anthem

Lady Gaga's new song Born This Way is said to be the new "gay anthem." I think what Lady Gaga is doing is great! Everyone loves her and if this is the way to get this message across then so be it! Read the lyrics and see for yourself. It's not just the "gay anthem" either, i think that these are lyrics that everyone can relate to. It's wonderful to know that soon everyone will be singing the lyrics to this song and spreading a message that so desperately needs to be heard.

Born This Way
It doesn't matter if you love him, or capital H-I-M
Just put your paws up
'Cause you were born this way, baby

My mama told me when I was young
We are all born superstars
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir

"There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are"
She said, "'Cause He made you perfect, babe"
"So hold your head up, girl and you you'll go far,
Listen to me when I say"

I'm beautiful in my way,
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Don't hide yourself in regret,
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Ooo, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way
Ooo, there ain't other way
Baby, I was born-
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Don't be!

Give yourself prudence and love your friends
Subway kid, rejoice your truth
In the religion of the insecure
I must be myself, respect my youth

A different lover is not a sin
Believe capital H-I-M (hey, hey, hey)
I love my life, I love this record and
Mi amore vole fe yah (Love needs faith)

I'm beautiful in my way,
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Don't hide yourself in regret,
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Ooo, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way

~Anna&Lisa

David Bahati loves gays, but would rather see them dead

Interview done by Rachel Maddow. How people like David Bahati not only exist, but still have power in the world is astonishing to me. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/09/rachel-maddow-bahati-uganda-gays_n_794271.html

~Lisa