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.
Here are two gutsy videos from Portland and San Francisco police in response to a national problem: an epidemic of suicide and self-hate going on among LGBT youth.
The message is strong and simple for these youth: “IT GETS BETTER!”
These law enforcement professionals come out of the closet and talk about their lives and their sexual orientation. It is a fitting tribute to the contibution GLBT men and women have made to policing. For my experience in Madison, I can attest to that.
This is a strong contribution and two of the qualities police need to practice: modelling and leading.
See my book for more insight and direction on these and other important police improvement issues.
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 
I was with you generally with what you were saying about cops until the Savage endorsement. Dan Savage is a radical homosexual activist who called homosexual supporters of Romney “faggots.” This is a guy who wants to help?
And there is a serious question if bullying is as bad as it’s been reported, especially among the homosexual community.
Not this one, not this time. You’re wrong here.
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I am not understanding what you mean about “the Savage endorsement? Tell me more and how I am wrong. Are we talking about the same blog-post? Thanks for replying…
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Chief
So perhaps it wasn’t an endorsement per se of Dan Savage, more an agreement with his perspective. That said, his perspective generally is radical and he’s an angry homosexual activist who doesn’t, in my view, practice what he preaches regarding acceptance (again, see his comments regarding homosexuals who support Romney).
Why is it that homosexuals, be they cops, but especially cops, believe they need to “come out?” Who cares what they’re sexual orientation is if they’re good cops? Shouldn’t that be all that matters?
In terms of bullying, sure it exists, has throughout history. I’m not convinced that homosexuals are bullied any more than any other group. And yes, it does get better, whether you’re a homosexual or not.
If we’re going to talk about the contributions of GLBT officers, what’s next? Who’s contribution is next? That’s where you’re wrong in my view. It’s not a fitting tribute to anything or anyone (especially if it involves Dan Savage). Cops are cops, how ’bout we let them be that first, foremost and always?
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