It was a packed house at the Nettelhorst School’s auditorium in Lake View when Unabridged Bookstore, AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Equality Illinois hosted Dan Savage and partner Terry Miller for the book-signing of It Gets Better March 23. Despite weather problems and arriving late the night did get better as Bernard Cherkasov from Equality Illinois began the presentation by explaining that every school should create a safe space for teens.
Savage arrived with Miller—his “husband in Canada but boyfriend in America”—in tow and described how the entire project started. Savage talked about being angered after Billy Lucas was encouraged to kill himself by bullies mid-September of last year. Savage used his column, blog and podcast to take action, ultimately arriving at he slogan “It Gets Better.” With Miller by his side, they made a home video and broadcasted it on YouTube. They encouraged others to do the same and within four days had more than 650 submissions. Now the movement has gone international with It Gets Better segments in Australia and Latin America.
The duo read sections of the book, followed by local contributors Kean Christopher Ray and David Dodd, who spoke of moments of suicide and “following a destiny.”
Afterwards, the authors answered questions about who they would have liked to have included in the program but didn’t (“no public elected Republican contributed”) and favorite musical submission (Rebecca Drysdale).
Also, they discussed plans for the future were covered in this section of the evening: “The goal is to keep raising money and give most of it away.” The website needs funding in order to continue the outreach of future youth in getting better.
Dan Savage returns to Chicago Monday, May 2, for the AIDS Foundation Spring Luncheon at the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan. Visit www.aidschicago.org for tickets and information.