It Gets Better Project

It Gets Better is an online video channel founded by Dan Savage on September 21, 2010, in response to the suicide of Billy Lucas and a number of other teenagers who were bullied because they were gay or because their peers suspected that they were gay, such as Raymond Chase, Tyler Clementi, Ryan Halligan, Asher Brown, and Seth Walsh. Its goal is to prevent suicide among LGBT youth by having gay adults convey the message that these teens' lives will improve. The project has grown rapidly: over 200 videos were uploaded in the first week, and the project's YouTube channel reached the 650 video limit in the next week. The project is now organized on its own website, the It Gets Better Project, and includes more than 3,000 entries from adults of all sexual orientations, including many celebrities. A book of essays from the project has been announced, to be published by E. P. Dutton and released in March 2011.

Savage wrote, about the founding of the project, "I wish I could have talked to this kid for five minutes. I wish I could have told Billy that it gets better. I wish I could have told him that, however bad things were, however isolated and alone he was, it gets better."

The project operates as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Contributions benefit the It Gets Better Project, The Trevor Project, and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

Barack Obama, President of the United States, contributed a video stating:

Contributors
People and groups named on this list as notable It Gets Better video contributors are linked to associated articles and include footnotes with an external link to their video and any other relevant citations.

A to D

 * Max Adler (actor)
 * Julie Benz
 * John Berry
 * Joe Biden
 * Kate Bornstein
 * Jeffery Self and Guy Branum
 * Sherrod Brown
 * Michael Buckley
 * Joel Burns
 * Hillary Clinton
 * Andy Cohen
 * Chris Colfer
 * Dane Cook
 * Chris Crocker
 * Adrianne Curry
 * Ellen DeGeneres
 * Jason Derulo
 * Hal Duncan

E to K

 * Gloria Estefan
 * Eve Jeffers
 * Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet
 * Al Franken
 * Tim Gunn
 * Todrick Hall
 * Anne Hathaway
 * Don Harmon
 * Neil Patrick Harris
 * Darren Hayes
 * Jennifer Love Hewitt
 * Perez Hilton
 * Dave Holmes
 * Janet Jackson
 * Janet Jackson and Larry King
 * Valerie Jarrett
 * Micah Jesse
 * Jewel Kilcher
 * Kesha

L to R

 * La La and Ciara
 * Adam Lambert
 * Rex Lee
 * Nicole LeFavour
 * Lizzy the Lezzy
 * Joel Madden
 * Jay Manuel
 * James Duke Mason
 * Jenny McCarthy
 * A. J. McLean
 * Rick Mercer
 * Jeff Merkley
 * Stephanie Miller
 * John Nolan
 * Danny Noriega
 * Barack Obama
 * Nancy Pelosi
 * John Pérez
 * Katy Perry
 * Patricia Racette and her wife Beth Clayton
 * Zachary Quinto
 * Gene Robinson
 * Dennis Van Roekel

S to Z

 * Dan Savage
 * Jake Shears
 * Ian Somerhalder
 * Jeffree Star
 * Rob Thomas
 * Michael Urie
 * Tom Vilsack

Organizations

 * American Institute of Bisexuality
 * Actors from Brothers & Sisters
 * Chicago Gay Men's Chorus
 * Cast members of the musical Chicago
 * Electronic Arts
 * Emerson College
 * Facebook
 * Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles
 * Google
 * Ashley Tisdale and other cast members of Hellcats
 * London Gay Men's Chorus
 * Marymount Manhattan College
 * New York City Gay Men's Chorus
 * Pixar Animation Studios
 * Cast of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
 * Members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
 * Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus
 * University of Southern California's LGBT and Allied Community
 * Cast of Wicked
 * Youth Pride Chorus

Presenters outside the United States
The project has no particular territorial target audience, but as it began in the United States most presenters have been based in that country. The program has also inspired campaigns worldwide, e.g. in Finland, numerous celebrities including Ministers Tuija Brax and Alexander Stubb appeared on a YouTube video Kaikki muuttuu paremmaksi ("Everything Will Get Better") encouraging teenagers to feel comfortable with their sexuality.

One organization, It Gets Better Canada, created a 12-minute video which featured a significant number of Canadian LGBT public figures, including Deb Pearce, Rick Mercer, Rex Harrington, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Enza Anderson, Diane Flacks, Brad Fraser, Mark Tewksbury, George Smitherman, Laurie Lynd and the cast of 1 Girl 5 Gays, talking about their own experiences of coming out in a documentary interview format. In addition to the Trevor Project, this video also endorsed two similar Canadian services, Kids Help Phone and Toronto's Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Youth Line. A similar video was subsequently released by a group of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation employees, including national network figures such as Jian Ghomeshi, Sook-Yin Lee, W. Brett Wilson and Brent Bambury as well as numerous other staffers and freelancers, speaking about their experiences of bullying on a variety of issues, including sexuality, race and disability.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron, other UK Members of Parliament, members of the UK armed forces, schoolteachers, comedians, actors, media presenters, journalists, writers, students, sportspeople, parents, DJs, and other celebrities and members of the public have recorded videos for a similar project called "It gets better... today", with the strapline "We can make it happen" for the UK lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity Stonewall, which was inspired by the original American project, and is part of Stonewall's anti-homophobic bullying in schools and anti-discrimination campaign. . They have also collected statements of support from other celebrities, some of them from outside the UK, for example Katy Perry, Beverley Knight, Christina Aguilera, Danny Miller and Marc Silcock, Kieron Richardson, Ian 'H' Watkins, Jon Lee, Amy Lamé, Joe McElderry, Sarah Waters, John Amaechi, Skunk Anansie, and Stella Duffy, and has also inspired other organisations to take part, such as The Co-operative Group and Tesco.

One of the Vice-Presidents of the European Commission and the European Commissioner for Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, recorded an "It Gets Better Europe" video.