Watch: Neil Patrick Harris Has A Mesage For Bullied Gay Youths
Neil Patrick Harris sent MTV a homemade video with an important message he hoped would reach all of those gay teens tormented by bullies in high school, college or where ever.
"Let me assure you, if you're getting bullied and feeling like you're on the outskirts, that it gets better. Because, when you get older, you find that people are actually drawn towards individuals with different points of view who are proud of who they are and who make interesting and different and unique choices for them — at least I am...but, for Pete's sake, don't cut yourself or jump off a bridge. Please."
It's vital that anyone who is being bullied know that things will indeed get better with time, so please spread the word.
Meanwhile, Lance Bass admitted that he himself was a bully in high school: "I was one of the first ones to jump on the bandwagon to make fun of a gay person, and look how I turned out."
Watch the short of clip Harris AFTER THE JUMP.
BTW - to those of you complaining - this was obviously 'off the cuff' and certainly not scripted. As a gay man he, like so many of us, had to have felt alienated, detached, not-one-of-the-group during his teen years even though he was a big star (Doogie) during that time.
And YES - we really need ALL celebrities to speak out about this issue. If it was your son, daughter, brother, sister, best friend or someone you actually knew who took his/her life because of the crap you dumped on him day in/day out then you might have a little more compassion. Life is tough enough. I've been openly gay all my freaking life, grew up downtown SF, and it wasn't any easier for me then it is for the kid in Buxton, Utah. I got beat up, called more names then I care to remember, was shuned and laughed at and always felt pretty much alone. But then I graduated and went on to College, met my husband (who was straight when we met) and life has been wonderful. So it DOES get better. But I promise you, there were times when I believed it would never get better and I would never be happy.
Posted by: OS2Guy | Oct 2, 2010 11:21:35 PM
I think this is a great message. To everyone who thinks you have to live in a big city to find people with different views, there are always people in small towns. They may not be out yet but they are there.
Also, with teenagers these days, we live in a virtual world. You can log on and talk to anyone in any country with any belief. You just have to look. People need to know they aren't alone, and people need to know you can't get away with bullying. It's unfortunate that cyberbullying is such a commonplace occurrence these days. Einstein's quote "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” rings true now more than ever. I don't know what we did to our society, to our children, where they feel that this is an acceptable way to treat other human beings, but it is disgusting. All of life deserves respect.
Posted by: CanGal | Oct 2, 2010 11:55:57 PM
I thought Lance went to the moon.
Posted by: J. Thebeau | Oct 3, 2010 3:02:06 AM
Neil Patrick Harris is great to help the kids.
Gay kids don't kill yourself. All bullies are cowards within. I know some won't like this, learn self defense. I've learned you beat a bully up, they leave you alone.
Posted by: GaryJ | Oct 3, 2010 5:20:21 AM
100% well said CB.
Jason, nice casual use of the term retard in an article about bullying you absolute champion moron.
Posted by: Benny-bebop | Oct 3, 2010 11:03:42 AM
Send this message to all Republican members of the Congress of the United States.
Posted by: jkfromcincty | Oct 3, 2010 4:05:24 PM
The guy tries to do a nice, helpful, generous thing to reassure young gays, and you screeching queens attack him? Jesus H. Christ!
Posted by: wimsy | Oct 4, 2010 10:19:25 AM
I believe that Neil Patrick Harris's heart is definitely in the right place, as is the case with all the LGBT people who've been involved in the recent "It Gets Better" campaign; they have my utmost respect for attempting to reach out to LGBT teens who are being bullied in school.However, speaking as both a parent and a former middle school teacher, I have to say that it's a very rare adolescent who can picture how his/her life will be different ten to twenty years in the future. Yes, it does get better, but to most middle school students their upcoming summer vacation seems like it's a lifetime away...much less imagining how their lives will improve in a decade or more, especially when they're being tormented in school day in and day out. The reality is we need tougher national laws on bullying, especially as it pertains to LGBT students since they are soem of the highest at-risk pupils for bullying. I believe the time and efforts put into producing these feel-good videos would be much better spent contacting people in Washington, DC, who have the power and influence to push for stronger nationwide bullying laws. For starters, I would suggest writing to the following two people who are part of the Obama administration:Kevin Jennings,National Director of GLSEN,email address-glsen@glsen.org and Arne Duncan, Education Secretary,mailing address-Dept. of Education Building, 400 Maryland Ave., S.W. Washington, DC 20202.
Posted by: Frederick | Oct 4, 2010 12:26:54 PM
Well done Neil. I love what you said, it`s a great message. So thank you.
Posted by: MNL | Jan 8, 2011 9:19:50 PM