Felisha Smith and Stephanie Whelan
Staff Writers
Senior and student body president, Greg Wolk, went on MTV’s new show “It Gets Better” to describe coming out to his school friends, classmates and parents.
He was one of three people on the first episode, and he told about the struggle he went through while hiding being gay for so long.
“I was so stressed I had to go to the emergency room a few times,” Wolk said on the show.
Wolk was on the show with two other people, one transgendered man getting married and a lesbian trying to get her mom to accept her girlfriend.
The show is called “It Gets Better” after a movement that two gay men, Dan Savage and Terry Miller, started to help prevent suicide in gay teens.
Savage and Miller started the movement because they wanted to show young gay people that it is hard at first, and it’s hard when families doesn’t accept their gay children, but life after coming out does in fact get better.
Miller said, “Life instantly got better after high school.”
According to NPRbooks.org, the “It Gets Better” movement has received over 10,000 video submissions, including videos from both gay and straight people. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Silverman, Tim Gunn, Ellen DeGeneres, Vice President Biden and Ke$ha all have contributed to the project.
According to NPRbooks.org,Savage and Miller have also published a campaign book, “It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying and Creating a Life Worth Living,” that includes essays from more than 100 of the video contributors.
On the update since the show Wolk said, “The hardest part about opening up was getting used to being open.” He said this after telling the whole LBGT crew that he is gay. He added since he has told people he’s gay that “Life is much better” and “I’ve gotten a lot more support.”
Wolk said his relationship with his parents “is better.”
