The Cincinnati Rollergirls are proud to present a video produced for the It Gets Better Project, the international movement designed to provide hope and inspiration to LGBT kids and teens who are victims of bullying.
The Cincinnati Rollergirls also know that it doesn’t matter who you are, where you came from, or what your sexual orientation is. Kids of all sorts are bullied, and that leads to some very serious – and deadly – consequences. For that reason, the Cincinnati Rollergirls – Cincinnati’s nationally-ranked, amateur, all-female roller derby team – are speaking out against bullying, providing encouragement, support, and muscle to kids who may feel there is no hope.
“Upon hearing that many youth were committing suicide after being bullied, particularly youth who identified as gay, or who were perceived to be gay by their attackers, I felt like I needed to share my story as a way to tell youth that they can make it through these dark times,” says Cincinnati Rollergirl Sk8 Crime, who appears in the video.
“The thing that gives me strength as an adult is my roller derby team, so when I thought about what it means to ‘get better,’ I immediately thought about the love and support that my teammates give me,” Sk8 Crime continues. “I knew that although many of my teammates are not gay, they had probably experienced bullying of other forms and had their own stories to tell. So we banded together on a cold winter day and film our version of the ‘It Gets Better’ tale. We know that it is the unity of our differences that make us a strong team, and hope that both youth and adults find empowerment in our experiences.”
The video was produced by Plum Street Productions, a Cincinnati-based film and video production company.
“We’ve been partnered with the Cincinnati Rollergirls since their 2010 season, and we feel like we’ve become an extension of the team,” says Plum Street’s Kevin Necessary. “We were honored when CRG asked us to help them produce an It Gets Better message. It’s perhaps the most important video we’ve done for the team.”