You Get Stronger

I have precious few Me Times scattered about throughout the day, and they usually last about 5-10 minutes (bathroom and eating breaks). The longest Me Time I have is at night, just when Lucia falls asleep. I'm usually super exhausted by then, but mentally I'm usually still pretty wired. That's when I catch up on my NPR podcasts.

I developed the habit of listening to NPR and leaving it on as ambient sound when I lived in Grand Rapids (my family and I moved there in 2001 -- I moved back here, but most of them are still there). I sorely miss NPR (and sucks to you, GOP, for cutting their funding -- and now they're after PBS!) so I thank them eternally for making their free podcasts readily available for me.



(Aside: Since the big bad GOP cut funding for them, maybe you can help them out by donating to them. Swear, it's putting your money to good use! Plus, you'll get a neat gift bag, depending on the amount. Hee.)

One my favorites is the show Fresh Air. Last night, I was belatedly listening to the episode where the host, Terry Gross, interviews Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller. They're fairly popular now, but just in case you don't know them, they started the It Gets Better Project. They began the project when six teenagers -- Justin Aaberg, Billy Lucas, Cody Barker, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Raymond Chase, and Tyler Clementi -- killed themselves because they were not able to handle the bullying that they were subjected to because they were gay. They made a video (and now they've made a book) for the other LGBT kids who are being bullied because they are either gay or perceived as gay. They also asked other LGBT adults to make videos for the kids and to their surprise and delight, thousands of people have participated. Straight adults have even joined the cause, even POTUS himself, Barack Obama.

There are several videos on the Web site, but this was one from Pixar made me cry. Well, Pixar always makes me cry, but this was really special. :)






This one I also liked because it comes from somebody of faith. He echoes one of the most fundamental theological arguments that I choose to believe in: God does not hate anyone because he or she is gay.






Good stuff.

During the interview, Dan (or was it Terry?) was asked which video submission moved him. He mentioned one in particular, sent by a Latina lesbian who lives in the Bronx. Unlike the other videos, her video was a bit more gut wrenching because it talked about the ugly truth, that unlike what the others had said, things don't actually get better. It could've been pretty depressing, but she mentions a more powerful truth.






True words, but I don't want things to end with that. I think it can get better, it should get better, and it will get better. Her statement challenges me even more to make sure that it does get better for the LGBT kids. As part of the demographic that shelters their bullies and oppressors, I need to make sure that it does.

So if you are an LGBT kid and you're reading this and things are inexplicably terrible, you're not in this alone. You go get stronger and I'll make sure things get better. :)