London Gay Men’s Chorus kick-starts video campaign for gay youth

A new campaign in London against bullying, very similar to the "It Gets Better" project here in the US, the London Gay Men's Chorus recorded a video as part of the Proud2Be Project, which aims to encourage gay youngsters to be proud of their sexuality.

The Proud2Be Project, which was founded by Matt and Jon Price last year, aims to include more videos from organisations and individuals as well as continuing to petition for change. It is hoped the project will also put on workshops, produce documentaries and exhibitions, and initiate Proud2Be centres.

                            

The founders encourage anyone who supports the project to send in videos and the identical twins explain their reasons for initiating the project on their website: “As children, the overriding message we received from our school, our church, the media and society was that being gay was something to be ashamed of. Although many would argue that times our changing, for us change could not come fast enough,” they say.

“Still the messages our LGBT youth receive are not too dissimilar to the ones we heard as children. When a child is told at school to ‘act less gay’ to avoid being bullied, the message is loud and clear. When a teacher fails to challenge a student who uses the word ‘gay’ as a put down, the message is loud and clear. When public figures continue to use derogatory and offensive language to describe the transgender community, the message is loud and clear.

They add: “Our desire is for our LGBTQ youth to access a new loving message and for that message to be as loud and as clear as the rest.”

We wish them all the success that the same project has achieved here in the states and hope that this movement will spread to the corners of the globe. There is a long road ahead, especially in view of the upcoming elections and the potential for a backslide in LGBT rights should the GOP gain control of hte government.

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