"It Gets Better" Project

"IT GETS BETTER,"A grassroots project for helping LGBT teens

Twenty seven years ago on November 3, President Ronald Regan signed a bill that made the third Monday in January a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  His contributions to the civil rights movement are legendary and have inspired the opening of new battlefronts concerning gender equality, immigration, gentrificaton and housing and as of late, rights for the LGBT community. 

The most recent reports on hate crimes against gay teens in the Bronx resemble the bullying, taunting, and physical abuse that characterized the civil rights era of the 1960s.  During the sixties, students listened to the teachings of Dr. King and Ghandi, organized themselves from the bottom up, and as Congressman John Lewsis (D-GA) says, essentially "became soldiers in a non-violent campaign" against social injustice. 

Like thousands of young people who joined the fight at this time, teenagers today can also be a part of a great movement, but this time on behalf of the LGBT community. This issue has the potential to become a sort of modern-day civil rights movement if individuals and communities take up the cause.  For more details about "It Gets Better," the grassroots project for helping LGBT teens, visit the organization's website to take the pledge against hate and intolerance.