The San Francisco Giants will become the first professional sports team to join a video campaign against anti-gay bullying and homophobia, officials said.
The “It Gets Better Project” features various politicians, corporations, celebrities and people who speak words of hope to children struggling with sexual orientation and gender identity through user-made videos.
The Giants will be joining recognizable figures and organizations such as President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Lady Gaga, Colin Farrell, Anne Hathaway, Apple, Google and Microsoft.
The team is coordinating the production of the video and it will be posted on the project’s website, www.itgetsbetter.org, when it is complete, Giants spokeswoman Staci Slaughter said.
The project was created in September 2010 by syndicated columnist Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller who posted a video with words of hope to harassed teenagers following a slew of suicides from gay teens and teens perceived to be gay, according to the website.
More than 10,000 videos have already been created and uploaded on the project’s website.
Lifelong Giants fan and San Francisco resident Sean Chapin encouraged the World Series champions to make an “Its Get Better” video by starting an online petition on www.change.org, an online platform for social change.
More than 6,000 people signed the petition, including several San Francisco mayoral candidates–Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, venture capitalist Joanna Rees, city Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting and state Sen. Leland Yee, according to a news release from the website.
The team has history of supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. In 1994, the Giants became the first Major League Baseball team to dedicate a game every year to the Until There’s a Cure Foundation–raising money for HIV and AIDS research at a time when victims were still being stigmatized.
“The Giants are committed to joining the ‘It Gets Better’ campaign and appreciate our fans’ support for this important cause,” Slaughter said.
Rachel Purdy, Bay City News
Want more news, sent to your inbox every day? Then how about subscribing to our email newsletter? Here’s why we think you should. Come on, give it a try.
