Gareth Thomas Joins the "It Gets Better" Campaign

by Brandon Miller · 2011-01-12 13:26:00 UTC
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Gareth Thomas has made a contribution to the It Gets Better campaign and his video is a shining example of how somebody's life really can make a full 180-degree turn.

In the video, the gay rugby player confesses that he considered suicide. It is a brave admission from one of the few openly gay athletes in the world, and I am sure it will hit home for many kids.

“One day I sat beside my swimming pool with my legs dangling in the pool, bottle of vodka in one hand, trying to find the strength and the courage somewhere to drop myself in the water. Close my eyes, never wake up again," he says in the video. “I used to walk along the cliffs near where I live. Everyday get a little bit closer to the edge hoping that there would be a gust of wind from somewhere that would just come along, push me over the edge."

Earlier this week, Thomas told Ellen Degeneres he used to pray to be straight. I did too. His story is so different from mine - I am as far from a professional athlete as you can get - but the universality of his words ring true. For Gareth Thomas, it got better.

“So I realized, if I couldn't do this, if I couldn't die, that I have to start living," he says. "And by start living, mean that I have to start telling the truth.”

Check out the video below and see a shining star of our community.


Photo credit: YouTube

Brandon Miller is a freelance writer and editor from Toronto, Ontario.
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