Brigham Young University Students Make ‘It Gets Better’ Video

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Being a gay teen is hard, but there is little doubt that being a gay teen on a Mormon college campus is even harder. According to the “It Gets Better” video produced by Brigham Young University students, The Princeton Review has consistently ranked BYU as one of most unfriendly campuses for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender students. Yet, according to the video, there are 1,800 LGBT students on the BYU campus. Of those students, 74% say they have considered suicide, and 24% say they have attempted suicide. Now a group of students is banding together to fight back against those statistics.

Understanding Same-Gender Attraction (USGA), a campus group that is not officially recognized by the Mormon university, made an “It Gets Better” video for their fellow students, and perhaps to engender some understanding among the community at large. The video features BYU students relaying their experiences coming of age as gay Mormons struggling to reconcile their sexuality and their religion. Mormonism, like Christianity at large, considers homosexuality a sin. The “It Gets Better” project was created by Dan Savage after several teens committed suicide after they were bullied for being gay.

MORE: 10 Questions for Dan Savage

MORE: President Obama Posts ‘It Gets Better’ Video for Gay Youth

Being a gay teen is hard, but there is little doubt that being a gay teen on a Mormon college campus is even harder. According to the “It Gets Better” video produced by Brigham Young University students, The Princeton Review has consistently ranked BYU as one of most unfriendly campuses for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender students. Yet, according to the video, there are 1,800 LGBT students on the BYU campus. Of those students, 74% say they have considered suicide, and 24% say they have attempted suicide. Now a group of students is banding together to fight back against those statistics.

Understanding Same-Gender Attraction (USGA), a campus group that is not officially recognized by the Mormon university, made an “It Gets Better” video for their fellow students, and perhaps to engender some understanding among the community at large. The video features BYU students relaying their experiences coming of age as gay Mormons struggling to reconcile their sexuality and their religion. Mormonism, like Christianity at large, considers homosexuality a sin. The “It Gets Better” project was created by Dan Savage after several teens committed suicide after they were bullied for being gay.

MORE: 10 Questions for Dan Savage

MORE: President Obama Posts ‘It Gets Better’ Video for Gay Youth