It Got Better Featuring George Takei

First, a bit of background information.

About the It Gets Better Project:

The It Gets Better Project's mission is to communicate to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth around the world that it gets better, and to create and inspire the changes needed to make it better for them.

Growing up isn’t easy. Many young people face daily tormenting and bullying, leading them to feel like they have nowhere to turn. This is especially true for LGBT kids and teens, who often hide their sexuality for fear of bullying. Without other openly gay adults and mentors in their lives, they can't imagine what their future may hold. In many instances, gay and lesbian adolescents are taunted — even tortured — simply for being themselves.

While many of these teens couldn’t see a positive future for themselves, we can. The It Gets Better Project was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The It Gets Better Project wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone — and it WILL get better.


What is the It Gets Better Project?

In September 2010, syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner Terry Miller to inspire hope for young people facing harassment. In response to a number of students taking their own lives after being bullied in school, they wanted to create a personal way for supporters everywhere to tell LGBT youth that, yes, it does indeed get better.

The It Gets Better Project™ has become a worldwide movement, inspiring more than 50,000 user-created videos viewed more than 50 million times. To date, the project has received submissions from celebrities, organizations, activists, politicians and media personalities, including President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Adam Lambert, Anne Hathaway, Colin Farrell, Matthew Morrison of "Glee", Joe Jonas, Joel Madden, Ke$ha, Sarah Silverman, Tim Gunn, Ellen DeGeneres, Suze Orman, the staffs of The Gap, Google, Facebook, Pixar, the Broadway community, and many more. For us, every video changes a life. It doesn’t matter who makes it.

ItGetsBetter.org is a place where young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender can see how love and happiness can be a reality in their future. It’s a place where our straight allies can visit and support their friends and family members. It’s a place where people can share their stories, take the It Gets Better Project pledge and watch videos of love and support.

On March 22, 2011, six months following the launch of the project, the It Gets Better Project book was released. The book , It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living is on-sale wherever books are sold. It includes essays and new material from more than 100 contributors, including celebrities, religious leaders, politicians, parents, educators, youth just out of high school, and many more.

Now for Uncle George's video:

From a happy home, to a Japanese internment camp, to skid row, nothing could stop George Takei from making it in Hollywood. Not even extreme prejudice. Watch as one of the most outspoken gay actors shares his story.

I was first introduced to the It Got Better Project when I watched It Got Better featuring Tegan & Sarah. I thought it was a very wonderful project & very important for the youth today who are struggling with their sexuality.

I follow Uncle George on fb because I greatly admire him & his activism, whether it's LGBTQ+ or political, he has some really great things to say.

My small town with a population of 38,150 there are 59 churches so a lot of LGBTQ+ people are afraid to be open about their sexuality. When I started High School in the fall of 2000, no one admitted that they were LGBTQ+. When I was in grade 9, one of my friends who was a guy was gay but he would pretend that he was a straight guy who was acting gay for laughs. By the time I reached grade 12 there were only 4 people who had come out and they were all guys. Some people were ok with it but others still gave them a hard time. I knew two girls who were bi sexual but they only told a couple people and kept it secret so that they wouldn't get bullied. I didn't want to come out in high school because I was already being bullied for being poor & slightly overweight but once I graduated I came out.

Now with videos like this, more youth will feel comfortable coming out because they can see that things will get better.

I think George Takei is one of the coolest people on the planet. I think he is someone that he uses his fame for really good purposes.

originally posted by: Kali74
I think George Takei is one of the coolest people on the planet. I think he is someone that he uses his fame for really good purposes.

I agree.
I didn't know a lot about the hardships he had to face in his life, especially being in the Japanese American camps. If you watch the other video I just posted about Uncle George, it's a TED talk he did that talks about his time being in the camp & what is was like afterwards. He also talks about the 442 infantry that was all Japanese Americans and how they are the most decorated unit in U.S Military.

Very inspirational. I love this project. It's so positive and uplifting. Focusing on change and positivity!

a reply to: beauty from pain

Have you seen the other ones? If not you can go here: It Got Better Project