Joseph Muscat posts video message for anti-homophobia campaign

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat has recorded a video message as part of the 'It Gets Better' campaign, an international effort at supporting young people who are bullied or harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

"Equality should be the goal that drives us forward. The drive to tackle the issues that affect persons of different sexual orientation, from tolerance to rights. This the huge step which the Maltese society must take," Muscat says in his video message.

The Labour leader said Malta needs a government that believed in rights, "a government that did not intrude in couples' bedrooms but one that respects the love between two persons, irrespective of who they are."

"We need a government that understands what young people who are still finding out about who they are, go through. We must help them understand that there's nothing wrong with who they are. We must let them know that their world hasn't come to an end but that there's a beautiful future waiting for them," he said.

Muscat said this was the type of society he wished to live in: "I am certain that Malta will not only become tolerant but it will embrace, understand and give rights to every couple and every family."

The 'It Gets Better Project' was created to show young lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach, if they can just get through their teen years.

In September 2010, syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner Terry Miller to inspire hope for young people facing harassment. In response to a number of students taking their own lives after being bullied in school, they wanted to create a personal way for supporters everywhere to tell LGBT youth that "it does indeed get better".

The It Gets Better Project has become a worldwide movement, inspiring more than 50,000 user-created videos viewed more than 50 million times. To date, the project has received submissions from celebrities, organizations, activists, politicians and media personalities, including President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Adam Lambert, Anne Hathaway, Colin Farrell, Matthew Morrison of "Glee", Joe Jonas, Joel Madden, Ke$ha, Sarah Silverman, Tim Gunn, Ellen DeGeneres, Suze Orman, the staffs of The Gap, Google, Facebook, Pixar, the Broadway community, and many more.