When Aydian does come out to the wedding officiant, she reacts with a smile, assuring him and Janilee that she is excited for the wedding. Aydian discusses his fears around having to tell the wedding officiant that he is transgender, as he has never had to come out to anyone before and does not want to deal with overly personal and potentially uncomfortable questions. In another storyline, Aydian, a transgender man and pastry chef, is planning to marry his fiancé, Janilee, but must address the fact that his birth certificate does not affirm his gender identity. Upon hearing about the pain her actions have caused Vanessa, Valerie apologizes, saying, “I love you for who you are…and I’ll get to that place you want me to be.” Later in the special, Vanessa tells Valerie that she is happy with herself, and that she is hurt by her mother’s refusal to acknowledge her relationship with Rashaida. Vanessa shares that her mother, Valerie, mistakenly believes that Vanessa will ‘grow out’ of being gay. Despite the happiness she has found in her life, Vanessa’s parents have not come to terms with their daughter’s sexual orientation. I found my truth, but I still have this void,” Vanessa says, thinking of her family. “Things got better because I accepted me.

Though she had a difficult time at first, Vanessa is comfortable with herself, and has a girlfriend, Rashaida. With more than 30,000 user-created videos that have been viewed over 40 million times, the It Gets Better Project has grown enormously over a short period of time, brining inspiration to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth worldwide.Īt the beginning of the episode, viewers are introduced to Vanessa, a 19-year-old African American woman living in Connecticut who is a singer-songwriter and an out lesbian. Segments from other user-created videos were included as well, highlighting the diversity of individuals who have lent their voices to this project, from celebrities to government officials.

Throughout the special, messages from Dan Savage and his partner Terry Miller summarized the history of the It Gets Better Projects, shared coming out experiences, and offered encouragement and hope to those feeling unsupported. The 60-minute special followed the stories of three individuals facing challenges encountered by many in the LGBT community: Greg, a high school senior struggling to tell his friends and family he is gay Vanessa, an out lesbian woman seeking her mother’s acceptance of her sexual orientation and Aydian, a trans man preparing to get married. This week, MTV and Logo aired an “It Gets Better” special, anchored by one of the co-founders of the It Gets Better Project, Dan Savage.

It Gets Better by Dan Savage