It Gets Better Australia is a not for profit organisation that works to help young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) youth cope with harassment and discrimination relating to their sexuality and/or gender identities.
The organisation today announced that BT Financial Group would become their major financial sponsor.
BT Financial Group Chief Officer said that the sponsorship was an aknowledgement that more needed to be done to ensure the acceptance of LGBTI people in Australia today.
“All adolescents struggle with their sexuality, but it is a particularly challenging time for LGBTI youth, given the level of discrimination that still exists in our society today,” Mr Cooper said.
“These are our children we are talking about and they are the children of our clients and we have a responsibility to support programs where people who have been through the same experiences, and have come out the other side, can talk to our kids in their own language.”
CEO of It Gets Better Australia Jamison Parker had this to say “The deal highlights the commitment BT Financial Group has to the It Gets Better campaign in Australia and the importance of reducing the high rate of suicide of LGBTI youth in the country. Bullying has touched everyone in their lifetime and can relate, the fact is that self-harm and/or attempted suicide is between 3.5 and 14 times the rate in LGBTI youth; the average age of a first attempt at suicide in LGBTI youth is 16 years; and 74% of this abuse occurs in schools. I appreciate that these facts are very confronting but I am committed to making a change in these statistics – our programs will educate people about aggressive behaviour; how to recognise specific health issues; and will promote our activities to GPs and Health Services. We have other programs which are designed to remind teenagers in Australia’s LGBTI community that they are not alone – growing up isn’t easy and that it will get better.”
It Gets Better Australia is an affiliate of the US based “It Gets Better Project”, a movement that first gained momentum through a series of YouTube videos of adult members of the LGBTI community sharing the message that although they may be suffering from discrimination and bullying in high school, life can majorly improve for LGBTI people as they get older and gain independence.
Comedian Rhys Nicholson recently made this video building on the idea, stating that being same sex attracted not a big deal, in fact, it’s become so commonplace it actually gets boring. He then elaborates on the many parts of a person that are more interesting than being gay.
Sophie Joske
