Zach Harrington was a 19-year-old who could no longer handle the homophobia in his small hometown, Raymond Chase was just a normal, 19-year-old college student dealing with bullying in his dorm, and Tyler Clementi was a closeted 18-year-old, college freshman who became the victim of a cruel prank. There was one common denominator in each of these young-adult lives before they committed suicide: anti-gay bullying.
Now more than ever is the time to start taking action before another life is ruined because of bigotry, which is why Ohio journalist/activist Dwayne Steward (blogger of the popular site Queer-Corner.com) started the Make It Better Foundation. It’s an organization offering seminars that teach youth, educators and community members how to create communities of inclusion and safe spaces for LGBT youth in the cities where they live. The organization’s core seminar, titled “Make It Better: A Guide to Creating a Community of Inclusion Where You Live,” is a message of hope for youth dealing with bullying and a teaching tool for educators and community members.
National organizations like the It Gets Better Project, The Trevor Project and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network have taken the lead and are working hard to make sure LGBT youth have support, but many of these programs don’t make it to the Midwest, especially in small town where the need is so prevalent.
GLSEN reports that 80 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students say they’ve been bullied at school for being gay and 40 percent say they’ve been physically harmed by other students for being gay. LGBT teens are also three to four times more likely to commit suicide then straight teens. Just based on the numbers, anti-gay bullying is at epidemic levels in our schools and universities. It’s become a problem that can no longer be ignored at the community level.
After Steward’s story was featured in “It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying and Creating a Life Worth Living” by Dan Savage and Terry Miller, he began receiving requests to speak at high schools and universities in and around the Midwest. While on tour, he quickly discovered the need for this discourse in more conservative states like Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana.
The Make It Better Foundation provides youth and educators with concrete tools that can be used today to start creating a community of inclusion around them, including:
- Connecting youth and community attendees with the LGBT organizations already available in their city, and helpful resources from national LGBT organizations.
- Providing a forum where LGBT educators and community allies can make themselves known, which physically shows LGBT youth who they can turn to during crisis.
- List of survival tips for youth and parents (i.e. strengthening friendships with student allies, how to start a Gay-Straight-Alliance at your school, filling your home or classroom with LGBT friendly media, etc.)
Steward has been working for many years with LGBT youth at the Kaleidoscope Youth Center in Columbus,Ohio, and was a victim himself of relentlessly bullying throughout middle and high school. He’s combined his experiences with parents, youth and educators while on the road and at Kaleidoscope, along with the hindsight of his personal battle to create the helpful material presented in the Make It Better seminar.
If Zach, Raymon and Tyler had grown up in communities of inclusion would they still be with us? We may never know the answer, but we do know that it takes a village to raise a child, and it is only when youth are positively supported by those around them do we truly see them excel early on.
Community leaders can start taking the steps to making it safer for the LGBT youth in their communities today by hosting a Make It Better seminar. Those interested in booking a seminar can contact Dwayne Steward directly at 614-377-2330 or by email at dwayneasteward@gmail.com. The seminar can be catered to large theater/auditorium crowds or a more intimate classroom setting. Compensation is negotiable.
