In love and support, thousands of us are coming together to let you youngsters, who are being bullied and harrassed because they are different, are gay, lesbian,bisexual or transgender. We want you to know and realize that it gets better. You are all being surrounded with love and support now!
My church, Unitarian-Universalist Church of Oak Cliff, in Dallas Texas, today did a special service devoted to giving a message to those young people who are being bullied, harrassed and shamed becaue of their sexual identity. We had ten individuals, myself included, who gave testimony that life is not terrible and that it gets better. We each witnessed how things which might have cause us to seek an end, turned out eventually to become a blessing for us. That life is indeed worth living. Most of us also did a video clip which will be on Youtube on the channel from the link above. I also need to say that our church was not the only one to participate in this but that it is nationwide and part of Standing on the Side of Love project. This is a growing endeavor. We don't want to see any more teenagers suiciding because of bullying and harrasment. http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/SideofLove
Gave you a bad link.
www.itgetsbetter.org
that will take you to the site where the videos can be viewed.
sorry for the bad link.
Thanks for bringing this important issue to our attention. I think most people are unaware of the severity of the problem.
LGBT teens are between 30 and 40 percent more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers. http://www.365gay.com/news/study-examines-factors-in-lgbt-teen-suicides/
It's hard enough to be a teenager without this additional ridicule and rejection by peers and family. Gay teens often feel totally alone in their suffering and have no safe place to turn for help. Knowing who to talk to can make all the difference. Most major cities have LGBT community centers which offer information and support.
Keep up the good work, Berry.
Blessings,
Noa
Thanks Berry,
I hope this organization finds a way to spread it's message to parents. I think it's even more horrible that many of these adolescents don't dare share their sexuality with their parents for fear of retribution. What would Jesus do? Reject these kids because they are gay? And yet how many are afraid to tell parents because family religious traditions.
Wendy