Friday, June 3, 2011
Dan Savage, author of the sex advice column Savage Love, has won a Webby Award for his work on the It Gets Better Project. He started the project in 2010 to address a series of incidents of suicide among LGBT youth.
Savage and his husband, Terry Miller, co-edited a book featuring selections from the It Gets Better Project. The book, It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living, includes a piece from President of the United States Barack Obama – who also filmed a video for the online project. In both the book and the online project itself, individuals submitted contributions with messages of hope and optimism directed towards LGBT teenagers.
| You could have knocked me over with a feather when the White House called and said the President would record a video. | ||
In an interview published Thursday with Fenuxe Magazine, Savage commented on his initial response when contacted by the Obama Administration to receive a video contribution from the President for the It Gets Better Project: “You could have knocked me over with a feather when the White House called and said the President would record a video. And they not only recorded a video, they were calling me to let me know and they were giving it to us first to release on the ‘It Gets Better’ website.”
The Webby Award is presented anually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, for excellence on the Internet. Savage was selected for recognition with a Special Achievement Award for his work on the It Gets Better Project. His project focuses on combatting bullying directed against teenagers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.