S.F. Giants release 'It Gets Better' video supporting LGBT youth

By Robert Klemko @ USA Today
2 June 2011, 11:43am

Baseball's San Francisco Giants became the first major sports franchise to record a video for the It Gets Better Project, an online campaign that aims to curb suicides among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.

Pitcher Barry Zito appears prominently in the video, shown below.

"We speak for the entire Giants organization when we say that there is no place in society for hatred and bullying against anyone," Zito says.

The Giants are the latest in a group of high-profile organizations including Pixar and Facebook who have embraced the message.

Sean Chapin, a 35-year-old accountant and member of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, used his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube feeds to drive a Change.org petition urging the Giants to produce the video.

"I was sick of the negative conversation around Kobe Bryant's gay slur," Chapin said. "So I said wouldn't it be really great if we were talking about LGBT issues in a positive way."

Chapin collected more than 6,500 online signatures, and the Giants soon agreed.

"Social media played a huge role," Chapin says. "It touches all audiences, those who are homophobic and those who are part of the LGBT movement. It's the simplest way to foster a discussion and to unite people who have similar beliefs."

Similar petitions exist for both the Yankeesand the Red Sox to join the movement.