Pittsburgh blogger Sue Kerr, who blogs at Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, started a petition at Change.org to encourage the Pittsburgh Pirates to make a video for the It Gets Better project. It Gets Better, was started by Dan Savage, as a way to get a message out to troubled teens struggling with coming out and finding acceptance. One teen who chooses to end their life because of the abuse they endure because of being different, is one death too many. Now You tube is full of messages that hopefully will give those teens reasons to hang in there, because it will get better.
A number of sports teams have made videos, and the involvement of professional sports is really important since jocks, and “sports” in general tend to be very unwelcoming to queer kids. Here is from Sue’s email:
A small group of folks have been in discussion with the Pirates Diversity staff to encourage the Pirates to participate. While the conversation has been open and they are receptive to the conversation, we felt it was time to create one of the official petitions to simply demonstrate that there are fans all over the region who think this is a good idea.
Please take a moment to sign the petition. And forward as appropriate. Again, this is intended to contribute to a positive dialogue.