In September 2010, responding to the staggering number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens who sadly ended their lives because they didn’t think they had any other choice or anywhere to go for help, syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage created a video with his partner to inspire hope in young people facing harassment.

That one video sparked a worldwide movement, inspiring celebrities, politicians, big corporations, activists, organizations, media personalities, and everyone in between to contribute their voice to this message of hope. And today, Yahoos lend their voices to this campaign. With more than 7,500 submissions and well over 15 million page views, the “It Gets Better Project” has become a dynamic place online where LGBT teens can see just how much promise their future holds, giving them instant access to thousands of inspirational stories and putting them in touch with organizations like the Trevor Project and GLSEN – both of which help LGBT teens in crisis cope with the obstacles, challenges, and seemingly endless hurdles of coming out.

So, on December 3, 2010, about 25 Yahoos from Y! Pride – representing our Sunnyvale, Santa Monica, Burbank, and New York offices­ – got together with the folks at Yahoo! Originals to shoot our very own “It Gets Better” video.

This amazing group of Yahoos shared their stories about coming out as gay or lesbian. They talked about how they dealt with harassment, bullying, and even thoughts of suicide when they were growing up. But, most importantly, they sent a clear message to teens all around the world that while being different may be tough, life will get better for them. Their stories were candid, honest, and oftentimes, a bit emotional – which made for an incredibly moving day for everyone involved

Take the pledge today! Learn more about the It Gets Better Project and watch all the video submissions.

Post, tweet, and share Yahoo!’s “It Gets Better” video with your family and friends now!

Y! Pride is an employee resource group that organizes team-building activities, events, volunteer opportunities, and lots of other fun stuff (like the video you see here) for Yahoo!’s LGBT community and its straight allies alike.

The Wear Purple campaign is inspired by the recent spate of suicides of US teens, who were bullied and ostracized at school because of their sexual orientation.  Sadly, those young people who took their own lives cannot hear this outpouring of support, but the hope is that other teens and young people currently struggling with similar harassment will take strength from this campaign.

“The diversity of our employees directly reflects that of our worldwide audience – that’s one of our great strengths as an organization,” said Drew Geishecker, chair of Yahoo! Pride. “Nearly 8% of Yahoo!’s users self-identify as LGBT, many of whom are all too familiar with the type of torment, ridicule, and at times, violence, that wouldn’t exist if we lived in a better-informed, more compassionate society. We all gain by becoming better educated about each of our diverse audience segments, rather than allowing their differences to be used as a harmful wedge that drives people apart.”

Y! Pride is just one of the many groups which have thrown their support behind the campaign to raise awareness.  The Trevor Project offers a crisis and suicide prevention hotline to LGBT youth, and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) – a strong presence in the tech world – has also highlighted the effort.  In recent weeks, the media has focused on the “It Gets Better” project, hundreds of short films by LGBT adults reminding kids that life gets better even if it doesn’t seem that way right now.

Supporting efforts to accept people for who they are, and leverage the power of the differences and similarities that make each person unique, is part of Yahoo!’s DNA.  “We support diversity and inclusion because we believe people do their best work when they are treated with dignity and respect, no matter what their background or orientation is,” said Cynthia Owyoung, Yahoo!’s head of diversity and inclusion.

So this Wednesday, Oct. 20, wear your purple clothes with extra pride and let bullied teens know they’re not alone.

• Toolbar tricks: Now, every browser comes with a toolbar, so why would you want the new one from Yahoo!? Does yours let you preview your email or content from more than 100 popular sites? Does it give you query suggestions as you search? Does it let you search directly within sites like Flickr or Wikipedia? I didn’t think so. Go download yourself the new Yahoo! Toolbar. It’s all about letting you do more faster. More here.
• Making the little guy feel big: If you own a small business, you know how much you covet the marketing dollars of the big dogs. Well, the playing field has officially been leveled. Our new My Display Ads let businesses of any size run affordable online display (or banner) campaigns that reach local markets on Yahoo!. How affordable? Let’s just say we can make thirty bucks go a long way. These self-service ads are easy to create – just pick from one of our 800+ templates; customize text, images, colors and add your company logo; select your target audience; and off you go. You’re guaranteed to feel embiggened. More here.
• Proud to have Pride: It’s LGBT Pride month and we’re doing it up big with this year’s Yahoo! Pride site. We’ve got news from the Advocate, a killer timeline that summarizes the last century in gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender history, and an event finder for more than 1,000 Pride events around the world. But best of all, we might be sending you and a friend to Sydney for the LGBT Mardi Gras in February. But hurry, you have to enter by July 1st (or come meet us in San Francisco this weekend to enter in person). More here.
• Dog days of summer: The race is on and you’ve got about 11 weeks to make the most of it. It’s summertime and we’ve pulled together a little helpful microsite to keep you from squandering it. Need help with travel plans? Check out articles on getaways that involve beachs, golf, family, national park, or weekend furloughs. Want great recipes? We’ve got ideas for grilling, oven-free cooking, drinks, and chill-out treats. There’s also shopping ideas, tips on keeping that lawn green, kids activities, and giving your Avatar a more sunswept look. Check it out here.

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Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

In the last year, we’ve seen civil marriage rights for gays and lesbians both granted and subsequently taken away from Californians, while also witnessing marriage legalized in 10% of U.S. states and even more countries in Europe. We’ve also seen a further explosion in LGBT pride celebrations across the globe. This year marks the first pride celebrations in China, several countries throughout Central America, and even Tahiti. There were multiple organized events for LGBT rights in cities across India, Russia, Cuba, and nearly 100 new pride celebrations throughout Brazil. Check out the map of over 1,000 LGBT pride events across the globe at pride.yahoo.com for more info.

On the home front, we had a great time again sponsoring San Francisco’s International LGBT Film Festival this past week. In commemoration of Stonewall’s 40th birthday, we hid free Yahoo! Mail Plus and Flickr Pro packages under the seats of 40 lucky audience members at two sold-out screenings at the historic Castro Theatre. It was an amazing experience to see a packed-house of 1,400 people simultaneously shout out the classic Yahoo! yodel when the prize packages were announced. Congrats to all the winners!

However, that was just the run-up to our big giveaway this pride season. We’re excited to announce that Yahoo! is going to send two winners on a week-long trip to the 2010 Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras in beautiful Sydney, Australia, next summer (that’s February, a nice treat for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere). Mardi Gras is a spectacular citywide pride event in Sydney, and the prize-winners will arrive in time for the big parade and extravaganza. You can enter to win either online at http://pride.yahoo.com through July 1, 2009, or in person at the Yahoo! booth at the San Francisco LGBT Pride Festival this Sunday, June 28. Please come visit us near the corner of Grove and Larkin Streets on City Hall Plaza, say hi to Yahoo!, and enter for a chance to win.

Again, Yahoo! wishes you and your loved ones happy LGBT Pride 2009!

Drew Geishecker
Co-chair, Yahoo! Pride

For the second year in a row, Yahoo! received a perfect 100% rating.

We are thrilled about receiving another 100% rating from HRC. It is proof, once again, that Yahoo! is committed to maintaining a diverse workforce. To see the full report, click here.

And as all Yahoos know, our commitment doesn’t stop at the edge of our campuses. Our tens of millions of LGBT consumers around the world are extraordinarily important to us and we are constantly seeking ways to enhance their experiences on pride.yahoo.com and across our entire network.

This year, 259 major U.S. companies earned a 100%, up from 195 last year –- an increase of one third. We are pleased to be a part of this large –- and growing –- group of companies, and would like to congratulate all the other companies who scored the top ranking from HRC.

Laurie Briggs
Co-chair of Yahoo! Pride