It Gets Better Special on MTV
Posted Feb 01.2012MTV and Logo are joining forces with Dan Savage, co-creator of the It Gets Better Project, for an hour-long special focusing on the emotional and societal struggles facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.
"It Gets Better" is set to premiere on both networks on Tuesday, February 21, at 11 p.m. ET/PT. The special takes viewers inside the personal struggles of three young people coming to terms with their sexual orientation.
"What you see in the special are all these young people who are at different stages of the coming out process, making it better for themselves using their own power to change and transform their lives," Savage recently told MTV News.
Savage and his husband, Terry Miller, founded the It Gets Better Project in the fall of 2010 in response to the increasing number of suicides among teenagers who were being bullied by their peers, often because they were LGBT or suspected to be. In keeping with the mission of the project, the special will feature video messages of support from Maroon 5's Adam Levine, Zachary Quinto, Margaret Cho, Chaz Bono, "Jersey Shore" star Vinny Guadagnino and Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears.
The It Gets Better Project kicked off with Savage and Miller's YouTube video reminding young people facing harassment that while things are tough now, they will improve, and that the couple themselves were living proof. Soon after, young adults began posting similar videos, detailing their own struggles with bullying and reaffirming the message for LGBT youth everywhere that, yes, it does indeed get better.
Just over a year later, the project has inspired more than 30,000 user-created videos viewed more than 40 million times. Submissions have poured in from celebrities, organizations and politicians, including President Obama, Anne Hathaway, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Adam Lambert, Colin Farrell, Ke$ha, Sarah Silverman and the staffs of Google, Facebook and Pixar.
See "It Gets Better" with Dan Savage on Tuesday, February 21, at 11 p.m. ET/PT on MTV and Logo. For more information, visit ItGetsBetter.org.
Get More: Music News
