Janet Jackson, The Trevor Project, and Fighting LGBT Suicide

by Brandon Miller · 2010-12-10 14:00:00 UTC
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We all know Janet Jackson is a gay icon. There's a reason she's going to be on the new issue of Instinct magazine, after all. And she has long voiced her support for the LGBT community, both in her work and in interviews.

But now she's taken on another cause: The Trevor Project, and telling LGBT people that "It Gets Better."

Janet -- Miss Jackson if you're nasty -- just recorded a public service announcement for gay teenagers considering suicide. It was done for The Trevor Project, which runs a 24-hour hotline for queer and questioning teens. It is toll-free, confidential and much, much needed.

"I know that sometimes life can seem insurmountable ... and if you're lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, you're probably thinking you're all alone. But you're not. There's a world of acceptance waiting for you," Jackson says. "I can relate because I was one of those kids that internalized everything. I held everything inside, all of my pain. And I didn't release it. I wasn't able to let it go until I finally met that person that I could trust and who was truly willing to listen."

Jackson wants gay teens to know that they have a place to call when they feel alone.

Jackson's a longtime supporter of gay causes and it's great to see her reaching out to youth. In the past she's been honored by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Human Rights Campaign and AIDS Project Los Angeles. And her album, The Velvet Rope, dealt with overarching themes of homophobia and contained a song ("Together Again") dedicated to friends she lost to AIDS. The album was also made at a time when Janet was struggling with severe depression herself -- which makes it all the more wonderful that she's reaching out to depressed and potentially suicidal teenagers.

Check out the PSA below.


Photo credit: YouTube

Brandon Miller is a freelance writer and editor from Toronto, Ontario.
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