Last week, we posted about It Gets Better Project founder Dan Savage's national college tour. Dan's still got plenty of upcoming appearances (check them all out...), but tonight is the night of all nights!

Don't forget to tune your TVs or set your DVRs for tonight's premiere of the It Gets Better documentary special, airing simultaneously on MTV and Logo at 11 p.m. Eastern.

Check out the trailer below...

Campus Pride is excited to partner with the It Gets Better Project in promoting gay columnist and project founder Dan Savage's It Gets Better college tour across the U.S.

One of the most important things Campus Pride has learned in our more than 10 years of work with LGBTQ and ally college and university students is that life for queer youth doesn't just get better once they leave high school and go to college. Young people across the U.S. are taking the It Gets Better message to heart and are taking a stand on their campuses each and every day to create a better world for themselves, their peers, their communities and for future generations. Many high school students just beginning their higher education are choosing to attend colleges and universities that actively include and support LGBT students, by utilizing resources like Campus Pride's Campus Climate Index.

We're proud that Dan will be embarking on his college tour and reaching out to LGBTQ and ally young people in higher education, as well as other venues. Many of the issues faced by LGBT students in high school are also faced by those in college, whether it's continued social or religious pressure from parents or harassment and discrimination from fellow students or college officials. And, contrary to popular belief, not all colleges are LGBT-friendly. For example, did you know (from our 2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People):

• Less than seven percent of accredited U.S. colleges and universities offer institutional support to LGBTQ and ally students, such as safe space/ally programming, LGBTQ faculty advisors or staff and LGBTQ student centers or facilities?
• Only 13 percent of colleges and universities include sexual identity policy protections?
• Just six percent of colleges and universities include gender identity and expression protections?

The inspiration Dan Savage brings to college and university campuses he will visit -- including those he's already visited, such as the College of William and Mary and the University of North Texas -- will uplift students who are still in the closet, empower those who are seeking positive change and help to shape more inclusive campus environments -- proving, indeed, that it does get better!

It Gets Better Tour Dates

2/16/12 Canisius College - Buffalo, NY
2/29/12 Clairemont McKenna College - Clairemont, CA
3/2/12 National Assn. of Independent Schools - Seattle, WA
3/6/12 University of Kentucky - Lexington, KY
3/7/12 Butler University - Indianapolis, IN
3/10/12 American Civil Liberties Union - Portland, OR
3/19/12 University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA
3/20/12 American University - Washington D.C.
3/21/12 Lynn University - Boca Raton, FL
3/22/12 University of Western Ontario - Ontario, CANADA
4/13/12 National HS Journalism Convention - Seattle, WA
4/17/12 Bryant University - Smithfield, RI
4/18/12 Bowling Green University - Bowling Green, OH
4/19/12 Univ. of Vermont - Burlington, VT
4/20/12 Washington Library Association - Edmonds, WA
4/29/12 Elmhurst College - Elmhurst, IL
4/30/12 University of the Ozarks - Clarksville, AK
6/23/12 American School Counselor Assn. Annual Meeting / Minneapolis, MN
7/12/12 University Church of Christ - Cleveland, OH
11/3/12 U.C. Berkeley - Berkeley, CA

In addition to Savage's It Gets Better Tour, MTV and Logo have partnered to present the It Gets Better TV special featuring three young people and their stories. The special will air on both TV networks next Tuesday, Feb. 21, 11 p.m. Eastern. See the trailer below...

Release of Campus Pride’s 2010 HOT LIST! marks ‘best of the best’ in LGBT actors, comedians, lecturers, performers; comes on heels of what some say is exclusive, ill-chosen speaker/performer set at this year’s NACA Conference.

Campus Pride, the nation’s leading non-profit working to create safer, more LGBT-inclusive colleges and build future LGBT and ally leaders, announces today its 2010 HOT LIST!, the “Top 25 LGBT Favorites” including out lecturers, comedians, musicians. poets, artists, researchers, activists and more. The list serves as a unique resource for LGBT college student organizations, college activities coordinators, student life officials and others looking to bring the best and brightest talent to their campuses while also increasing awareness, inclusion and visibility of LGBT people.

This year’s release of the HOT LIST! couldn’t come at a better time, as activists and professionals ask why this year’s National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) conference failed to adequately include out LGBT people in their roster of speakers, performers and workshop leaders. Some organizers are shocked, especially in light of the national attention surrounding LGBT youth suicides the last month.

“That NACA would include only one openly queer person in their national conference line-up this year is a sign there’s still more work to do in increasing visibility for LGBT people on college campuses and the associations that serve them across the country,” says Adrienne Jones, student activist and Hot List volunteer coordinator. “We hope our 2010 HOT LIST! fills in the void and serves to provide unique recommendations for planning in campus activities. NACA should take note.”

The 2010 HOT LIST! includes the most diverse slate of nationally-respected performers, speakers, actors and lecturers to date and some of the nation’s most well-known, outspoken advocates for LGBT people.
This year’s HOT LIST! includes, among others: Musicians A.J. Shanti and Katastrophe, performance and spoken word artists Athens Boys Choir and Kit Yan, drag performer Sherry Vine, first and only openly gay college football team captain Brian Sims, professor and author of Campus Pride’s “2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People” Sue Rankin, bisexual author and speaker Robyn Ochs, musician Randi Driscoll, ESPN writer and columnist LZ Granderson, columnist and “It Gets Better” creator Dan Savage, hate crimes prevention advocate Judy Shepard, comedian Kathy Griffin and others.

For a full list of 2010 HOT LIST! picks and their bios, continue reading after the jump or visit www.campuspride.org/hotlist2010.asp for the full bios and contact information.

For more info, visit www.whitehouse.gov/itgetsbetter and www.itgetsbetterproject.com/blog/entry/president-obama-it-gets-better/

This release landed in our inboxes today. We felt it was worth sharing...

RUTGERS FEELS HEAT OVER CLEMENTI SUICIDE: While University Stonewalls Students and Public, Sex Columnist Brought to Campus. University President to Get Queer Demands on October 21.

Rutgers University is bringing sex advice columnist Dan Savage to Campus on Monday, October 18, 2010. Savage's appearance was set up in the aftermath of Tyler Clementi's September 22, 2010 suicide, which has drawn national attention to the campus and conditions for LGBTQ students and others. Given Rutgers' newly-inaugurated "Project Civility," Savage is a peculiar choice; Savage has been criticized for insensitivity to people of color, women, transgender people, and people whose body's do not fit the media's portrayal of the norm. Recent protests at Rutgers suggest that tonight's event could become heated.

The Monday event is part of "Rutgers Responds," a series of events on which the Rutgers administration has spent an undisclosed sum. This series, while pandering to politically-correct sympathy, has changed nothing. Rutgers students continue to demand policy changes to better secure the campus and ensure genuine diversity. Rutgers' handling of the suicide - the second LGBTQ-related death on campus since March 2010 - continues under scrutiny.

When asked about Rutgers' role, including unresolved complaints to Residence Life by Clementi concerning his roommate, university President Richard McCormick would only allow, "I believe we did all we could and we did the right thing."

Rather than self-serving statements and feel-good events, Queering the Air and allies demand answers and action on long-standing complaints about the campus climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people.