It Gets Better Project

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The It Gets Better Project™ was founded in September, 2010, when the first it gets better video was uploaded to YouTube, igniting a worldwide phenomenon.  That first video offered a desperately needed message of hope to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth.  It urged those youth to tough it out through the bullying and other challenges that confronted them in their teenage years and described the positive future they could experience as adults.  It told them that no matter how difficult things may be today, it gets better. 

Today, the mission of the It Gets Better Project is to communicate to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth around the world that it gets better, and to help effect the changes necessary to make it so.  The Project is focused in three main program areas to advance this mission.

First, we use various forms of media to collect and share it gets better-themed messages of hope with LGBT youth.  Just a few examples include:

• a continuing online video and social media campaign (www.itgetsbetter.org)
• a series of MTV television specials called It Gets Better (the first of which was nominated for an Emmy® award), featuring the stories of courageous young people who are making it better
• a Schools and Libraries Project, through which copies of a New York Times bestselling book with it gets better testimonials have already been donated to over 1,500 school and community libraries around the country (the book is called It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living, edited by Dan Savage and his partner, Terry Miller). 

Second, we collaborate with non-profit organizations of all kinds to bring the it gets better message to LGBT youth, and to enhance the work and publicity of these organizations.  Just a few of our collaborations are:

• BetterLegal™ - a program to leverage the library of over 50,000 it gets better videos to enhance the advocacy and educational work of legal services organizations working with the LGBT community, and to raise awareness within and educate the legal community about LGBT issues
• It Gets Better, the stage program - in collaboration with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, a theatrical program inspired by the Project will be performed in community arts centers around the country (www.youtu.be/kU8G8yYTFHE), premiering in Iowa City in October
• Seth Walsh Student Rights Project - as part of our work with the ACLU, we provided founding financial support for the Seth Walsh Student Rights Project (http://www.aclu-sc.org/issues/lgbt-equality/student-rights-project/)

Third, we are working internationally to bring the it gets better message to communities around the world, and to help develop resources and promote change that support LGBT youth. 

• We have thus far established four international affiliates: It Gets Better Australia in Australia/New Zealand (www.itgetsbetter.org.au), Todo Mejora in Latin America (based in Chile) (www.todomejora.org), Det Blir Bättre in Sweden (www.detblirbattre.se) and Det Bli’r Bedre in Denmark (detblirbedre.dk).  We will soon launch three new affiliates in Puerto Rico, Portugal and Switzerland.  Many more affiliate programs are in development around the world. 
• In addition to our affiliate work, our Project has been featured at pride festivals around the world, we have worked with the U.S. State Department in a variety of ways, we have secured it gets better videos from countless world leaders, and the first It Gets Better MTV special aired on all of its international television networks.

The It Gets Better Project is making a difference for LGBT youth in communities around the world, by raising awareness of the important challenges confronting this community and by providing important, inspirational messages from an ever-growing chorus of supporters.  To learn more about our organization and how you can become involved, please visit our website at www.itgetsbetter.org.

“It Gets Better Project” is a registered fictitious business name of the Iola Foundation, a not-for-profit organization founded in 2008 to provide an avenue for people in the creative community to perform charitable work and support charitable organizations.  IT GETS BETTER and IT GETS BETTER PROJECT are trademarks of Savage Love, LLC, which have been licensed to the Iola Foundation for use in connection with the It Gets Better Project.