Activist band Rise Against, known for supporting various groups such as PETA, an organization that fights for animal rights and the It Gets Better campaign which provides support for LGBT(lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) teens who feel their life is not worth living, released their new album Endgame early 2011.
The band produced a video for their hit single Make It Stop (September’s Children) whose main focus was on the many suicides of gay teens during September 2010.
The Chicagoan band teamed up with Dan Savage and Terry Miller and their “It Gets Better” campaign to create a video that shows teens that it does gets better and suicide should not be the answer.
The video begins in a high school where three teens are being taunted and tormented by fellow classmates because of their sexual orientation.
Throughout the course of the video the students struggle with their feelings and come close to committing suicide but then the teens have an epiphany that they have something to live for and shouldn’t kill themselves.
The video includes vocalist Tim Mcilrath stating names of five gay teens who ended their lives because of gay bullying. It also includes YouTube videos of people showing their support to the It gets better campaign.
“I wanted to do a song that, first, lets fans know that we don’t tolerate bigotry in our audience and, second, empower fans who are coming to grips with their own sexuality, empower them to be proud of who they are and that we accept them, and create a community that accepts them,” Rise Against vocalist Tim Mcilrath said about his inspiration for the song.
The band wanted to express a “definite statement” on where they stood on gay rights and both the song and the video did a great job on doing so.
The message about homophobia and its effects on people was flawlessly illustrated throughout the song and the overall the message the video tried to convey was a success, it accurately depicts what LGBT teenagers struggle through on a daily basis.
