by Emily Bridges, Director of Public Information Services

Advocates for Youth joins in mourning Justin Aaberg, Seth Walsh, Billy Lucas, Asher Brown, and Tyler Clementi.  Each of these teens committed suicide after bullying related to their being gay, or being perceived as gay.  Their deaths highlight the oppression that the vast majority of GLBTQ youth face each day:  GLSEN has found that 85 percent of GLBTQ youth experience verbal harassment and 40 percent experience physical harassment in schools.

Many are horrified by homophobic bullying, and may wonder what they can do to help eliminate it. Click through for ways you can contribute to making all GLBTQ youth safe, accepted and valued.

• Tell your story.  In response to the tragedies, and as an answer to the deafending and dangerous silence around GLBTQ issues teens often encounter, sex columnist and GLBTQ advocate Dan Savage has created the It Gets Better Project, where adults can post their video messages of hope to GLBTQ teens.

"...Gay adults aren't allowed to talk to these kids. Schools and churches don't bring us in to talk to teenagers who are being bullied. Many of these kids have homophobic parents who believe that they can prevent their gay children from growing up to be gay—or from ever coming out—by depriving them of information, resources, and positive role models.

"Why are we waiting for permission to talk to these kids? We have the ability to talk directly to them right now. We don't have to wait for permission to let them know that it gets better. We can reach these kids."

Share your story at the It Gets Better project.

• Support safer schools for GLBTQ young people.  Research has shown that only bullying legislation that specifically prohibits bullying based on gender expression and sexual orientation is effective in protecting GLBTQ youth from bullying in schools.  The Safe Schools Improvement Act, recently introduced in the Senate, would require comprehensive anti-bullying policies in schools.   Let your Senators know you support the Act.
• Don't tolerate adult bullying.  A Michigan assistant attorney general has been stalking and harassing a young gay man.  Media attention to Andrew Shirvell's personal crusade against the first GLBTQ president of the University of Michigan's student body has resulted in Shirvell's taking a leave of absence.  Let's let his boss the Attorney General know that a bigot and homophobe can't competently represent Michigan's citizens in court.  Tell Michigan's attorney general to make Shirvell's leave permanent.
• Demand an end to discriminatory abstinence-only programs which at best ignore young people, and at worst demonize and stigmatize homosexuality. Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs by definition exclude GLBTQ young people, who can't get married in 45 states or at the federal level.  But many go further,  teaching harmful gender role stereotypes - messages about how girls and boys "should" act - which play a strong role in the bullying and insults aimed at GLBTQ youth. 
• Be an ally. Everyone can express their support for GLBTQ youth through their words and actions. Make your support for GLBTQ equality known.  Don't tolerate hate speech and homophobic "humor" - call it out wherever you see it, be it at school, work, church, or among friends.  Don't sidestep the issue and contribute to the silence - talk about it openly and honestly.  Consult the Safe Spaces Toolkit for more information about being an ally.  Raise your children to be allies, too.  Let them know that bullying is never OK. We are learning that such lessons may literally be the difference between life and death.