A Blunt "It Gets Better" from VA Politician

Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., posted one of the most straightforward It Gets Better videos of any politician last week.

"I didn't happen to be born gay," he said, "but I've known an awful lot of bullies throughout my life. It's interesting that they all grew up to be insecure jerks."

Moran said the bullies "only seem to feel good about themselves when they were making other people feel bad about themselves."

He talks about growing up with a "horrible problem of shyness" that left him "red faced" and "sweating all over the place" when called upon in class. Still, Moran pushed himself into public speaking.

His first two speeches didn't go so well.

"I fainted," he said, "fainted right on the stage just drop down. They revived me and I started again. Fainted again, had to carry me out. Second speech. Same thing happened."

That was the bottom, so to speak. And now it's a story he tells often with pride for what he's overcome.

"Somehow I told myself things have got to get better because they can't get any worse," he said. "And they did, eventually."

Moran has served Virginia in Congress since 1991, and before that he was mayor of Alexandria. Watch his video below, followed by a few impassioned examples of the voice for gay rights that would have been lost had Moran not pressed on after those first few failed speeches. The videos are from the normally quiet world of C-SPAN but aren't to be missed.