KCBS Cover Story: SF General Hospital Reaches Out To LGBT Youth
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – San Francisco General Hospital is reaching out to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth who may be struggling with rejection, bullying or depression.
The hospital has created a video as part of the national "It Gets Better Project." In addition to dozens of hospital employees offering supportive messages, the 11 minute video features five San Francisco General Hospital staff members who have struggled with or been tormented because of their sexual orientation.
KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:
"My teenage years, I got bullied really badly," said Nate Sharon, a psychiatry resident. "I got beat up and spit at. I came out as lesbian identified prior to being transitioning from female to male.
Psychologist Lee Rawitscher went through more than two years of conversion therapy after coming out to his parents in college.
"Even in the Bay Area, I have no doubt that many, if not the majority of teenagers that are struggling with issues of sexual orientation are still having an incredibly difficult time with it," said Rawitscher. "And they are still picked on and teased and all those kinds of things."
Similar videos have been made by the San Francisco Police Department and the San Francisco Giants.
Emergency Department Nurse Manager Kathryn Fowler, who initiated the hospital's video, said it's all in connection with the national "It Gets Better" project that began in 2010 in response to several teen suicides related to bullying.
"It's a very important message that you're beautiful, everything is going to be okay, if you're in trouble, here's some resources and if you come to our hospital, we're going to treat you with care and respect and take good care of you, no matter who you are," said Fowler.
San Francisco General is the first hospital in the Bay Area to create an "It Gets Better" video.
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