Shut up, Jasun: The It Gets Better campaign is a failure Ed

I am a huge fan of Dan Savage and I applaud him for lighting the spark that could change everything but it's not enough. Now that we have been engaged and energized, it's time to venture out and change minds in the real world.

One at a time... Face to face.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Jasun
• Mark

[shaneyrain]

Jasun: You're deluded to think that putting a positive message out there that is easily accessible to struggling teens EVERYWHERE is "Not Working" You seem to have little realization how important the Internet & Social Media is to their generation. TGB is everywhere on the web & an ideal way to reach a generation whose social life is completely web-integrated. ITB, Linked to the Trevor Project, IS WORKING. The Trevor Project has seen a huge spike in crisis intervention calls since ITB began.

[jasunmarkdotcom]

@shaneyrain And YOU seem to have little realization how a bunch of old people making weepy videos about how hard it was for them and then turning off the camera saying "well, I did my part" and walking way makes us feel better but ultimately has made a lot of adults who COULD help a lot more just get some attention on their Facebook pages. A huge spike in intervention calls?

Great.

Has there been a huge spike in adult volunteers? I've seen less real action from adults. This is easier.

[jasunmarkdotcom]

@rd959 No. I don't think. I think that too many gay people have made whiney, weepy videos so they can pat themselves on the back for "doing something" when in fact they're doing nothing but making a weepy, whiney video and nothing else.

When we stop hearing about gay teenagers making "it gets better" videos and then killing themselves a week later, maybe I'll change my mind.

Until then, how about you go fuck yourself?

[2012Honolulu]

Very insightful as usual, Jasun. Thanks for posting vids.

[bandude67]

There was more to the comment but the point I wanted to make was that the biggest difference happens when people don't notice a difference at all.

[bandude67]

Thank you for being realistic about this. To be honest I've always kind of felt like the IGB organizations don't really work and I've caught hell for it. You can have all the random celebrities you want raving about how things get better and it wont change anything. You need to just make being homosexual more common place to show people that you really are no different from them. That's what creates change and makes things easier. I've started mentioning my boyfriend in regular everyday situati

[shaneyrain]

@Jasunmarkdotcom. To an extent you already do the work, just by posting, But you miss the power of numbers & ease of accessibility that the IGB Campaign provides.

[shaneyrain]

@jasunmarkdotcom I called a Hotline. Many IGB videos link to Trevor (a hotline)

I challenge you to give this thought: A young, confused little Butch Fucker in a Fargo,ND Evangelist family may find your life inspirational- show him that he can be macho & still love men. Your mere existence could make life easier, bearable, GIVE HIM HOPE for a future. Volunteering at a shelter's great, but what if we help keep kids from running in the first place, simply by putting our lives online as role models.

[jasunmarkdotcom]

@shaneyrain Well good. But I still say that it's made many adults feel like instead of spending long hours volunteering at gay homeless youth shelters, mentoring young GLBT men and women, donating money and time and effort... they can just toss off a video and feel they did their part. It helped you.. and that's great. But were you helped by the IGB project itself? Or by someone who spoke directly to you and not on a video broadcast on Youtube?

[shaneyrain]

@jasunmarkdotcom

Fact: Suicide & Crisis Intervention Works. It works for All Ages, Genders & Sexual Orientations. It opens doors for people to get the help they Need. I'm Living Proof.

[shaneyrain]

@jasunmarkdotcom

A large portion of ITB vids are made by young people, College kids that are near-peers of troubled teens. They're not doing it for a pat on the back, They're doing it to help others

[shaneyrain]

@jasunmarkdotcom ITB is speaking to Teens in their Language.

Their whole Social Live revolve around the Web. Adult volunteers will never have access to Confused Teens in Natchez MS. ITB can & does.

[jasunmarkdotcom]

@shaneyrain it gets kids to ask for help... do they get it? Has teen suicide gone down? Are gay teenagers feeling better about themselves? Or just more of them asking for help they don't get?