It Gets Better: NU kicked off their fundraising efforts Tuesday by selling hot chocolate and rainbow bracelets outside the Arch.
The group, started this fall by Weinberg sophomore Ryan Lim, made $153 in three hours, said Communication sophomore Jonathan Gleason, the group’s public relations chair. Gleason said the funds will go toward publicity costs and renting vans for upcoming visits to high schools and middle schools.
Lim founded IGBNU after hearing about Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old boy from Williamsville, N.Y., who committed suicide two months ago after being bullied for his homosexuality.
“I was really frustrated with the situation, and I knew there’s something I ought to do and I could do about it,” Lim said.
IGBNU hopes to engage with Gay Straight Alliance groups at local middle schools and high schools and to have NU students become mentors to the younger students, Lim said. As a student at an Episcopalian all-boys boarding school, Lim said he endured bullying from peers and administration members for being gay and would have appreciated having a group like IGBNU reach out to him.
“Hearing things like, ‘You need to be fixed,’ ‘You need to see the light again’ or ‘allowing a GSA would be like condoning bestiality’ was difficult,” Lim said.
The group planned their first high school visit to Power House High in southwestern Chicago on Nov. 12. Members are also in touch with Evanston Township High School’s GSA. In addition, IGBNU is looking to get in touch with the Broadway Youth Center, an organization in Chicago that provides support and resources to homeless LGBT youth.
The group currently has 37 active members, though 85 people have signed up, Lim said.
“The real question was, ‘Is NU doing enough?'” Lim said. “We’re so blessed to be in a liberal, educated environment, but I had a difficult time finding an outreach group for youth in the area.”
Gleason said though there are resources such as Rainbow Alliance for LGBTQ issues on campus, IBGNU is trying to go beyond NU and bring support to local youth.
“I really liked the idea of advocating for younger generations,” said Gleason, who joined IGBNU after seeing videos on the national It Gets Better Project’s website and learning of the recent suicides.
The national It Gets Better Project launched in September 2010 and has turned into a worldwide movement. Its goal is to show LGBT youth the levels of happiness, potential and positivity their lives will reach, and provide support for LGBT teens undergoing bullying and depression through a website and video platform, according to the project’s website.
Although IGBNU derives its purpose from the IGB project, it is an independent student organization and acts as an outreach group, Lim said.
Spirit Day on Oct. 20 marked IGBNU’s first event. More than 400 NU students signed a banner at Norris University Center that read “Northwestern Stands With You.” IGBNU took the banner to the Chicago History Museum, which was hosting an “Out in Chicago” exhibition about gay history. The museum invited local high schools and GSAs, and asked IGBNU to make a presentation to students.
Upcoming events include Transgender Remembrance Day on Nov. 20 and a spring “Mayfest,” which Lim said he hopes will bring 20 to 25 high school GSAs from areas around NU to gather on campus and listen to different LGBTQ professors, student athletes or organization leaders tell their stories.
Lim said he hopes events like these will spread the message of hope and support he didn’t receive in high school.
“There was a very skewed view of gay culture in the media at the time, and that’s all I had growing up,” Lim said. “Even though that was only four years ago, back then there weren’t resources like It Gets Better or The Trevor Project. As a college student, I can portray a positive outlook for high school students. You can grow up to be whoever the f*ck you want!”
