Tuesday, March 22, 2011

"It Gets Better" Book to Feature Bishop Hanson

Months after intense media coverage of anti-gay bullying inspired columnist Dan Savage and his partner Terry Miller are editing a new book entitled, "It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating A Life Worth Living." The book is named after the couple's well-known YouTube project started to send messages of encouragement and hope to young people bullied about their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. The project went viral and found participants from all walks of life, including Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, Mark Hanson, who is contributing an essay to the collection.


Bishop Mark Hanson in a still from his "It Gets Better" video

Thousands of videos have been created since the Fall of 2010, and creators of many of the videos were tapped to write essays for the book. Bishop Hanson's essay is a transcript of his own video, in which he spoke about his family and the love that LGBT youth can find as beloved children of God. "God has called you by name and claimed you forever. There is a place for you in this world and in this church," Hanson said.

Other essayists in this collection include the Rev. Gene Robinson, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire; Rep. Nancy Pelosi; Secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton; Sen. Al Franken; Ellen DeGeneres; and President Barack Obama.

To learn more about the It Gets Better project, visit the official website at http://www.itgetsbetter.org/.
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1 comment:

  1. Thank you for the information that Bishop Hanson is featured in the It Gets Better book! I saw that the It Gets Better Project is seeking donations so they might get copies of the book to every high school library in the country. After donating to have a copy sent to my own high school, it occurred to me that churches also should have a copy of this book, as another visible sign that we will no longer sit in silent complicity. For ELCA churches, we can mark the entry from our Presiding Bishop, thus connecting with the wider church.

    Does this sound like an idea LC/NA could support? I wrote about it further on my blog: http://unexpectedandmysterious.blogspot.com/2011/03/lent-10-it-gets-better-contd.html

    Thanks,

    - Rev. Andrew Tengwall
    Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo MI

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