Do the names Tyler Clementi, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg, Raymond Chase, Cody Barker and Billy Lucas sound familiar? They’re seven young men who have been in the news for one reason: they committed suicide after they were tormented because they were gay. It shouldn’t have come to this. Suicide shouldn’t be an escape.

Monday, in addition to Columbus Day ‘ a day during which we remember the prominent discoverer of the Americas who killed off a large portion of the native population with smallpox and muskets ‘ was National Coming Out Day. This assisted in launching Binghamton’s Pride Week, which featured, among other things, a rally, a guest speaker and interactive activities.

While I’m sure that all of the activities and events will do more to promote openness and tolerance of others, they aren’t necessarily hitting home.

After the recent suicides, author and columnist Dan Savage started the ‘It Gets Better’ project, which is a collection of short video blogs by famous celebrities, including some famous (or infamous, as the case may be) Web celebrities.

They all provide one simple message: ‘Don’t give up. You’re not alone. It gets better.’ Viewers and supporters have been encouraged to leave video responses with their stories and have been directed to The Trevor Project, a crisis and suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ youth, if they wish to make donations to help the cause in general.

If we want to change things, we need to start with the youth.

In this country, despite our overall tolerance and openness, we can still be intolerant of others, like with the recent anti-mosque fervor. The youth sees the intolerance and shunning of those who are different and they take that personally. They shouldn’t be forced to do that. There are others in similar situations who they can talk to. Communities and schools should provide a tolerant and open atmosphere for youth in these situations to come together and find solace.

Two major examples of intolerance toward gays in the country include the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy and the barring of hospital visits. Through ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ youth sees that it’s OK to keep part of themselves repressed and if they don’t, or if their privacy is breached, they’re out of luck. But it shouldn’t be like that.

Who cares if those serving overseas have feelings toward the same gender? Who cares if they communicate with their partner while overseas? As long as they’re getting the job done, I’m fine with that. Let them serve.

And what if you were barred from visiting a dying loved one in the hospital because you and the loved one were partners? Heterosexual couples, to the best of my knowledge, usually aren’t barred from visiting each other, unless there’s a serious health problem. So what if a male or female partner wants to visit their sick or dying partner in the hospital to console him or her? They should be allowed to! So what if they’re different? That shouldn’t factor into whether or not they can visit and console a sick or dying loved one. Let them visit.

It shouldn’t come to removing soldiers from the battlefield in the middle of a war or preventing loved ones from seeing their dying partners because of their sexual orientation. It shouldn’t come to seven young men killing themselves because they were bullied for being gay. We can put a stop to this.

You’re not alone. It gets better.