Ryan Landi's Public Health Blog

Ryan is originally from Rockford, Illinois. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Augustana College (Rock Island, IL) in 2009. He is a third year dual degree Master of Public Health (MPH) in Policy and Master of Health Administration (MHA) student. He has completed internships with TRICARE Management Activity in San Diego, CA and the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Health Care System (ICVAHCS) and is continuing to work on the University of Iowa’s Emergency Preparedness Plan with the State Hygienic Lab. The past couple years, Ryan has served as president of the environmental group, ECO Hawk, which he helped form with other College of Public Health (CPH) students in the fall of '09. He also served as the VP of Professional Development on the Iowa Student Association of Healthcare Leaders (ISAHL). As a GRA for the MPH program, Ryan will meet with prospective students and keep them updated with current MPH events via Twitter and Facebook and can be followed on his blog located on the CPH’s website.

This student blog is unedited and does not necessarily reflect the views of the College of Public Health or the University of Iowa.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

It Gets Better!

So as I was watching "Dancing with the Stars" with my parents this evening, a commercial came on with the Google Chrome logo and then headlines stating "Bullied for being gay" and "The suicides of gay teenagers." It was a commercial highlighting the IT GETS BETTER PROJECT, which a guy named Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner Terry to inspire hope for young people facing harassment. Within two months it was a worldwide movement, inspiring thousands of people that It Gets Better!

I watched the commercial with my loving parents there with me, who I had only come out to right before I started my MPH at Iowa two years ago. I was dating my boyfriend Cody at the time, who had been out since high school and had gone through so much more harassment and struggles that I couldn't even begin to relate to. I was never "out" in high school and even went to a pretty liberal college, but knew when a community advisor (CA or RA equivalent) got harassed by guys on his floor for being gay that it prevented me from coming out earlier to my friends and family. I eventually came out to friends my senior year in college, but wish I would have sooner, it was so much easier to be myself and not have people wondering "Is he gay?"

I want to share the commercial I saw, because it inspired me to pledge and be reminded that there are so many others out there that are going through many more struggles of trying to fit in and being harassed for who they are.

Please help reduce teen suicide (Public Health message ;) and contribute your pledge: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/

With love,

Ryan




Posted by Ryan Landi at 8:44 PM

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