In response to Russia's discriminatory anti-LGBT laws, the It Gets Better Project has launched a new campaign aimed specifically at the country's LGBT youth.
The campaign's first video, titled "You Are Beautiful," is available in both English and Russian and features people from around the world offering messages of hope and support.
"The It Gets Better Project hopes to reach the millions of LGBT youth in Russia to show they have international support against the outright discrimination happening across their country," said the Project's executive director Ted Farley in a press release. "We want every gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individual to know they are beautiful, valued and important, and that their friends and allies in the international community are keeping a close eye on their situation while working to end such injustice."
The campaign has launched at a time when Russian LGBT youth are despreately in need of positive messages. Russia's highest court recently ruled that the country's nationwide ban on "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" in areas visible to minors do not violate the county's constitution, citing that the ban falls in line with an obligation to "protect motherhood, childhood and family."
The high court also dismissed claims that the laws were discriminatory, since they applied equally to LGBT and heterosexual Russians who might disseminate such "propaganda."
Watch the It Gets Better Project's message of hope in the video below.
