Columnist Dan Savage speaks at Rainbow Alliance event

When Dan Savage was a child, he was constantly bullied for being gay.

But then it got… When Dan Savage was a child, he was constantly bullied for being gay.

But then it got better.

Now happily married and with a child, Savage is telling those part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community that it will get better for them, too.

Rainbow Alliance, a Pitt student group that promotes the interests of the LGBTQ community, hosted Dan Savage, a widely syndicated sex and relationship columnist. Savage founded the It Gets Better Project, making it the focal point of his speech last night in David Lawrence Hall.

More than 500 people showed up, a number that Melissa Tabak, the executive assistant of Rainbow Alliance, said indicates how supportive people are of Savage and his project.

The It Gets Better Project includes an online website that offers videos from people in the gay community who assure LGBTQ teenagers that life will get better for them despite years of bullying.

The project began after a slew of teenagers, including 15-year-old Billy Lucas, committed suicide because of bullying last year.

According to the 2007 Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey, lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.

“What Billy is saying [through his suicide] is that he can’t picture a future of joy to compensate the pain he’s in now,” Savage said. “He might know that there are happy, gay, loved adults, but he doesn’t know how to get from where he is in Greensburg, Ind., to there.”

When Savage found a comment on Billy’s Facebook memoriam page that said, “It gets better,” he was inspired to find a way to reach out to LGBTQ teens.

But his reputation for broaching explicit sexual topics while speaking on college campuses made it difficult for him to speak to middle schools or high schools.

Instead, Savage took to a different medium. With the aid of YouTube, he was able to convey the message that “It gets better” to LGBTQ teens — even though he couldn’t say it in person.

He asked his husband to also take part in the video so they could talk about about how, despite all the bullying in their youth, they eventually found joy. Savage also encouraged others to contribute their own videos.

The goal was to post 100 videos, but Savage said he got 650 videos after only five days.

“The goal was not to reach so many videos, but to save lives,” Savage said.

The It Gets Better Project includes videos from people such as President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Al Franken and Ellen DeGeneres.

“The impact has happened because of the overwhelming response, and what that communicated to queer kids,” Savage said.

Tim Craft, the Rainbow Alliance business manager, said that Savage’s message conveys the importance of having allies.

“It gets better when you have a community, and you don’t have to struggle on your own,” Craft said. “Rainbow Alliance has been that community to be there for me on a daily basis, and I want people to know that Rainbow Alliance is here for others.”

Savage said the videos help children who come out to unresponsive or even hostile parents.

“Parents need to stop bullying their kids, and even if they think their child is gay, they need to let them know that they will love and accept them for who they are,” Savage said.

He also pointed out the paradox that exists for queer children. Whereas some have a loving support system, others are still victims of bullying and abuse.

“If you’re out and you parents support you, your school takes bullying seriously and friends who have your back, there’s never been a better time than right now to be a gay kid. If you’re a gay kid living in Greensburg, Ind., … where you don’t want to draw attention to your sexuality, then there’s never been a worse time to be a gay kid.”

The Pride Week continues tomorrow with the Drag Show in the William Pitt Union, and proceeds benefit the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.