What Are the Best Celebrity "It Gets Better" Videos?

by Brandon Miller · 2010-10-23 07:55:00 UTC
Topics:

It's not a huge surprise that the "It Gets Better" campaign is being turned into a book. Consider that in just one month, Dan Savage's response to gay teen suicide has resulted in a selection of videos that have been viewed more than ten million times.

A division of Peguin Group USA, Dutton will publish the anti-bullying and homophobia campaign as a set of essays from celebrities and everyday people. And since the book is going to focus at least partly, if not primarily, on celebrities, I thought I would take a look at the cream of the crop in celebrity contributions to the campaign. Without further ado, here are the top ten celebrity "It Gets Better" videos.

10. Jewel

I know of two famous Alaskans: Sarah Palin and Jewel. I like this one. You will too. Watch the video and try not to like her. It's impossible.


9. Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson

America's funniest fictional gay couple took a chance and made a hilarious submission to the campaign. It worked. "Who's the bitch now, bitches?" Not you, Jesse.


8. Hillary Clinton

Confession: I have a huge thing for Hilary Clinton. The woman is formal and rigid, but her words of wisdom sound like the official word of the land.


7. Adam Lambert

"Even I get bullied," he says. And he says it with a full face of makeup. I love that he calls out the media and blogs for some of his coverage and really takes the power back. He shows that you really need to believe in yourself and that's all that matters.


6. Sarah Silverman

Never one to mince words, Silverman addresses her video not to gay youth, but to America as a society. Short and not so sweet, but the truth hurts and she's spewing it.


5. Perez Hilton

Perez Hilton

Perez may be one of those figures that everyone loves to hate. But that doesn't mean he can't contribute to the cause of LGBT equality. His promotion of this campaign probably had a huge hand in it receiving the media coverage that it has, and love him (unlikely) or loathe him (pretty damn likely), he has a massive following.


4. President Obama

"You didn't do anything wrong," President Obama says to gay teens everywhere. And it's the truth. Eloquent. Touching. It almost makes up for all of this "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" nonsense. Almost.


3. Margaret Cho

It is one of the shortest videos on the entire website, but Margaret Cho's plea to gay teens is also one of the most heartfelt. This woman bleeds rainbows and you can hear the sincerity in what she is saying echo through the computer screen.


2. Zachary Quinto

One of the few celebrities who actually names the recent victims of anti-gay bullying who have committed suicide, Quinto's video is straightforward and heartfelt. I don't know what his sexual orientation is, but you can feel the emotion in his voice. Maybe he's just a fantastic actor. Or maybe he really feels the sadness. I'm betting on the latter.

1. Tim Gunn

What a brave man, that Tim Gunn. He confesses to a suicide attempt in this video and I dare you to not appreciate his courage and frankness.


What do you think? Who made the best video? Or do they all pale in comparison to the videos from us "regular" folks? And by us, I include myself. Check out my video and let me know what you think. And if you've got one of your own, definitely list it in the comments for folks to view.

Photo credit: YouTube

Brandon Miller is a freelance writer and editor from Toronto, Ontario.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Could Ireland Elect Its First Gay President?
NEXT STORY:
Bullied high schooler convinces MPAA to change ‘Bully’ rating to “PG-13”

COMMENTS (10)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.