Attention Goes Viral On Ft Worth Councilman After Emotional Speech On Gay Youth
BY AMAN BATHEJA
Fort Worth Councilman Joel Burns is scheduled for two national television appearances today as attention continues to grow from this week's emotional speech in which he reached out to gay young people.
Burns took time during Tuesday's City Council meeting to take part in a nationwide campaign targeting gay youths called "It Gets Better." The project was started in September by writer and activist Dan Savage, responding in part to the case of a gay teenager in Indiana who killed himself after being taunted by classmates.Burns fought through tears as he told those attending Tuesday's meeting that he'd like to give his 13-year-old self, who struggled with being gay, glimpses into the future.
"Yes, high school was difficult, coming out was painful, but life got so much better for me," Burns said. "And I want to tell any teen who might see this, give yourself a chance to see how much better life will get, and it will get better. ... Life will get so, so, so much better."
Later in his speech, he added, "Please stick around to make those happy memories for yourself."
Burns revealed on Twitter on Thursday that he was invited to be interviewed on CBS' The Early Show at 6:30 this morning and on CNN at noon.
Burns uploaded his speech to YouTube on Wednesday. Links to it were quickly posted by hundreds of people on Facebook, and it drew the attention of websites including the Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Gawker and, in England, The Guardian's news blog. By Thursday, the nearly 13-minute video had been watched more than 170,000 times and drawn more than 2,000 comments, according to YouTube.
Burns was elected in 2007 after a campaign in which then-Councilman Chuck Silcox caught flak for highlighting Burns' sexual orientation while endorsing his opponent.
Aman Batheja, 817-390-7695
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