Thomas Roberts: It Gets Better

To look at him now, a handsome and successful newsman, it would seem that Thomas Roberts has always had it all.

But in this very candid “It Gets Better” video, the MSNBC anchor talks about the pain he suffered as a kid who was molested by his parish priest – a pain so great that it drove him to attempt suicide when he was 15.

His sister found him and he talks about the pain he caused his family who rallied around him: “I saw first-hand the pain in their eyes and realized that suicide was not the answer.”

This experience, and his journey through it, puts the openly gay newsman in a very unique position to talk about being in such a dark place but surviving and gaining a perspective that is now most valuable when he shares it with others.

“I want you to think of yourself as a gathering storm,” he says in the video. “You’re going to gather your strength, you’re going to gather all the love that’s around you, you’re going to gather your confidence because the bullies out there in the world, they don’t matter. You’re going to gather your education and gather your dreams for a bright future.”

“You’ve got to know and believe that you are here for a purpose, I promise that you are – just the way you are.”

Well said Thomas! Check out his video:

Adam Lambert Admits Being Different is Always Going to be a Challenge but Says “It Gets Better”

Adam Lambert is busy touring – he’s in Australia this week – but the singing sensation has taken the time to share his candid thoughts about the struggles of being young and gay and how “It gets better.”

But Adam doesn’t sugar coat his thoughts for The Trevor Project’s It Gets Better campaign which has gathered all kinds of steam following a string of tragic suicides of bullied gay teens.

“There’s always gonna be people that are scared of it,” Adam says. “But at the end of the day, if you give those bullies and those people that are so ignorant and fearful of your lifestyle, if you give them the power to affect you, you’re letting them win and they don’t deserve that. What you’re doing by being who you are is you’re keeping it real and you’re being really brave. I believe in you, I think it’s great. There are a ton of us out here in this world that are just like you that believe in you.”

Adam admits that he still feels bullied when he reads about himself: “I’m singled out, and it’s all ‘gay,’ ‘gay,’ ‘gay,’ ‘gay,’ ‘gay,’ even though there’s so much more to me than just who I choose to sleep with…. You are so much more than your orientation. You know it, and I know it. So don’t let those bullies and those ignorant, fearful, small-minded people prove you wrong. You have to be strong, and you have to pay attention to the positive, and in doing so, you will push through, and you will rise up, and you will live your life to the fullest. It gets better, but it’s up to you.”

Here is Adam's "It Gets Better" video: