Long Beach

Long Beach Releases An 'It Gets Better' Video, Aims To Encourage LGBT Kids And Remind Them They're Not Alone

By Marisa Gerber Wed., Nov. 16 2011 at 11:13 AM
Categories: Long Beach
Dan Savage
​Dan Savage is getting a lot of OC lovin' lately. 

Last week, the nationally-syndicated sex columnist got glitter-bombed at an event at UCI, and this week Long Beach joined his "It Gets Better" Project. 

Started in 2010, after several gay teens and victims of bullying committed suicide, the project  aims to show LGBT kids that they're not alone and that, well, things will get better. 

They've disseminated their message mostly through videos posted online and that's exactly what Long Beach did. The five-minute video features councilman Robert Garcia, who is openly gay, and Mayor Bob Foster.

Garcia shares a bit of his personal story and Foster tells a story about the time a good friend and business partner of his told him he was gay. "It made absolutely no difference," Foster says. " I was actually a little hurt that he actually thought it would matter. It made no difference at all and we've been good friends ever since."

Some other Long Beach residents, like a military veteran and a reverend, share anecdotes and tid bits of advice, too.

   
The video will also run on the LBTV channel for the rest of the year, according to Garcia's website. 

Tags:

Dan Savage, It Gets Better Project, Long Beach
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mitch young
mitch young

The thing is, for a lot of homosexual men, it really doesn't get better.========A data analysis released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention underscores the disproportionate impact of HIV and syphilis among gay and bisexual men in the United States.The data, presented at CDC’s 2010 National STD Prevention Conference, finds that the rate of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) is more than 44 times that of other men and more than 40 times that of women.The range was 522-989 cases of new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 MSM vs. 12 per 100,000 other men and 13 per 100,000 women.The rate of primary and secondary syphilis among MSM is more than 46 times that of other men and more than 71 times that of women, the analysis says. The range was 91-173 cases per 100,000 MSM vs. 2 per 100,000 other men and 1 per 100,000 women.======http://tinyurl.com/yk9mzyc

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