

It Gets Better: Google Employees - dfield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYLs4NCgvNU&feature=player_embedded

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RyanGWU82
On a related note, the "Where are the gays at?" thread was killed sometime in
the last 24 hours. I'm at a loss for any good explanation why. There have been
many other discussions about minorities, especially female CS students/women
founders. There's no good reason why gay hackers shouldn't be equally visible.

Some of the commenters asked why it matters, as if gay hackers should be
forced to prove why they want community. mcantor (who's straight) gave a great
explanation: "Finding a community of "People Like You" can make or break
someone's journey into a new field. That means the hacker community at large
needs to be equally supportive of queer hackers, or a queer hacker sub-
community must form."

There have been many similar discussions on here about international startup
founders, female founders, older founders, younger founders, and more. I'm
quite disappointed that the discussion about gay founders was shot down.

~~~
stevenp
I've been feeling pretty down today about my thread being killed, wondering
whether I had made some sort of mistake by posting it. However, this thread,
and watching the Google Video, both have made me feel a lot better. Thanks for
the supportive words. :)

~~~
pg
Incidentally, it wasn't killed by moderators. It got autokilled because too
many users flagged it as offtopic. I just unkilled it.

~~~
corin_
Nice gesture, but (unless I'm mistaken) the 24+ hours of being dead means that
its upvotes/time ratio won't see it back on most people's screens

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andrewvc
For context, sex and relationship columnist Dan Savage started this initiative
to spread hope to LGBT teens struggling through what can be a hard time in
their lives. From the youtube channel:

 _"Billy Lucas was just 15 when he hanged himself in a barn on his
grandmother's property. He reportedly endured intense bullying at the hands of
his classmates—classmates who called him a fag and told him to kill himself.
His mother found his body.... I wish I could have talked to this kid for five
minutes. I wish I could have told Billy that it gets better. I wish I could
have told him that, however bad things were, however isolated and alone he
was, it gets better._

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henrikschroder
It gets better.

For most people, not just LGBT teens. Highschool is a weird anomaly really,
inside there's one set of rules for what's good, what's important, and who's
popular. But when you get outside you realize it was all crap. Being popular
in high school earns you nothing in real life. Noone outside cares about what
was important in high school.

Instead, you realize that the ones that were smart, that got good grades, that
worked hard at the actual schoolwork, that got bullied, they're the ones doing
pretty well in life.

It's kinda funny, because when you're inside, teachers and adults _are_ saying
this, but noone listens. I think that's the larger problem: why is highschool
so incredibly disconnected from reality?

~~~
nandemo
_> It's kinda funny, because when you're inside, teachers and adults are
saying this, but noone listens._

I don't quite understand. Do you mean that people who are bullied should just
"not care" for 3 years, because eventually it will be over? Or are you not
talking about bullying?

(I can't see the video now)

~~~
corin_
It's not a case of them needing to _not care_ about it, just that if they
understood how the balance of ups and downs would end up over life, they would
be more able to get through those years.

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stevenp
Thanks for posting this. Google's contribution to this project is awesome.

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seanmcq
Thanks for sharing this. Seeing official google branding on this is pretty
impressive.

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aptsurdist
It's great that Google has contributed to this project. I think it's really
important for every community to set aside a little space to recognize this
issue and send a clear message of support from gay and straight members alike.
It's not just a gay issue, it's a matter of civil liberties, and the health of
young adults in our communities. When a kid needs support that isn't available
in their immediate network, at least they can know that there are many real
communities all around the world where things are better. It's inspiring that
a huge company like Google can offer that dream of a tangible welcoming
community that a kid can aspire to be a part of someday.

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cemregr
Here's a good resource for LGBT entrepreneurs: <http://www.startout.org/>

They have events in SF and NYC.

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seanc
(disclaimer: I'm straight but I suffered from the nerd bullying from ages 5 to
14)

So, not to dump on this idea, but I heard this again and again when I was a
kid. It didn't really help me feel better. My position was "That's fine, but
life really sucks now"

When you say to a 7 year old "it gets better when you're 14" you're saying
that he has to go through a whole second lifetime of suffering before he gets
out. That's not helpful.

Better to say "It gets better when you're older and here's why. And here's how
you can get some of those things early. Here's how you can find a healthy
community now, which will help now."

Although to be fair, I'm sure Dan Savage et. al. would completely agree, and
be the first to offer that kind of advice.

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rdl
High school sucks for everyone, but it's worst for LGBT than almost anyone
else. Suicide rate is at least 4x what it is for the general teenaged
population.

However, despite being ~straight, I really want one of those "Android Pride"
t-shirts from this video.

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todayiamme
This touched my heart, but I hope it is emphasized that sometimes the bullies
are the people you love and trust the most.

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MtL
Wtf is this shit? I thought the video was gonna get better, it only got more
boring :(

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phatbyte
You got it wrong, actually, your comment is boring.

