Mariners to Make "It Gets Better" Video

The Seattle Mariners have joined the list of Major League Baseball teams making videos for the It Gets Better Project.

More than 3,000 fans have signed a Change.org petition started by a gay Iraq War veteran urging the team to do the video, but a Mariners spokeswoman said the franchise was planning the move ever since the San Francisco Giants became the first MLB team and first pro sports organization overall to join the project, USA Today reports.

"We didn't get convinced to do it because of a petition," said Mariners representative Rebecca Hale. "It was something that was on our radar since the Giants' video," which was released earlier this month. Filming is in the planning stages, she said.

The Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox are also making videos for the project, which aims to let young LGBT people know they can survive bullying and go on to lead fulfilling lives. Seattle-based journalist and activist Dan Savage and his partner, Terry Miller, started it last year in response to a highly publicized spate of suicides by LGBT youth.

Tacoma, Wash., resident Eric Williams, the veteran who started the Mariners petition, said the project's message would have made a great difference in his life. Growing up in Excelsior Springs, Mo., "I had nobody, there were no gay people in my area," he told USA Today. "There were a few sitcom characters and that was it. Seeing this project that puts big names and regular faces out there and tells kids that it does get better is such an awesome thing."