President Obama Films 'It Gets Better' Video To Combat Gay Bullying

President Obama appeared in a video in support of gay teenagers on Thursday as part of the It Gets Better Project, an initiative launched by writer Dan Savage.

In the video, Obama says that he was "shocked and saddened" by a string of gay teenagers who have committed suicide in recent weeks. "We've got to dispel this myth that bullying is just a normal rite of passage," the president adds.

"To every young person out there, you need to know that if you're in trouble there are caring adults who can help," he continues. Invoking his own history, Obama says that he knows "what it's like growing up feeling that sometimes you don't belong."

Looking straight into the camera, the president tells his audience, "You are not alone. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't do anything to deserve being bullied. And there is a whole world waiting for you, filled with possibilities. There are people out there who love you and care about you just the way you are. And so, if you ever feel like, because of bullying, because of what people are saying, that you're getting down on yourself, you've got to make sure to reach out to people you trust."

The president's message comes in the same week that his administration continued to fight to uphold "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in court. As a result, Lt. Dan Choi, who was discharged from the Army for being gay, announced on Thursday that he will not vote for Obama in 2012.

Earlier in the week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posted a video as part of It Gets Better as well. Scroll down to watch the president's video.

WATCH:

Comments

[Eagleman]

10:47 AM on 10/27/2010

When the election is near - every one want to be Gay and Lesbian friendly

[Melique Williams]

04:25 PM on 10/26/2010

The LGBT teen suicides resulting from anti-gay bullying is reaching epidemic proportions. I'm glad that our President has taken a stand on this issue and spoke directly to the community and those who suffer at the hand of bullies. The LGBT video channel, OURsceneTV, posted a special report on bullying and LGBT suicide (http://bit.ly/bJdNbX)

In this video a gay New Jersey teen talks about relentless bullying from classmates and an attempt to take his own life, and video from the Tyler Clementi vigil organized by NYU students where hundreds showed up in the rain to remember and send the message "this is not okay."

[HADAFAKAYA]

07:40 PM on 10/25/2010

It is the bully that is in most need of help.

[jcabowers]

05:08 PM on 10/25/2010

Thank you, Mr. President

[DallasDon]

08:57 AM on 10/25/2010

..........­..........­\|||/ ...............
..........­.........(­o o) ..............
|~~~~ooO~~­(_)~~~~~~~­|
|.............. STOP ............|............I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I
|.... DISCRIMINATING ...|...........I... STOP DISCRIMINATING ..I
|.... AGAINST GAYS ......|...........I. AGAINST SHORT PEOPLE I
'~~~~~~~~~­~~~~Ooo~~'...........'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
..........­.......|__­|__| ......................................\☻/............................
..........­.........|­| . || ..........................................▌.............................
..............ooO .Ooo....................................../ \..............................

[jcabowers]

05:08 PM on 10/25/2010

Cute, I like it.

[bascombe]

01:02 AM on 10/25/2010

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/39661175#39661175

it gets better and better, eh?

[bascombe]

12:55 AM on 10/25/2010

but DADT and DOMA are still in the books.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/39661175#39661175

what's it gonna be, Mr. President?

[fignuts]

09:04 PM on 10/24/2010

I will probably regret posting this.

I don't see how making homosexuality mainstream and widely accepted by society can benefit this nation in any way. I realize that being a Christian greatly influences this opinion, but I'm also not aware of any historical examples of that working out in a positive way long-term. Perhaps a fellow huffer could enlighten me on that? It's certainly not my area of expertise.

[PhilipB]

10:07 PM on 10/24/2010

Hi Fignuts,
Think of it as what it means to be an American.
The constitution has served this country very well, and the promise of the constitution has been perfected with the abolition of slavery, allowing women to vote and more.
As the Republican lawyer Ted Olsen showed in his challenge to prop 8, equality for Gays and lesbians already exists in the constitution. Laws that place limits on rights are a danger to All Americans, where when the rights of some are excluded, all are at risk.
Part of this is an understanding of our constitutional Republic, where the founders (Madison, Adams et al) explained in the federalists papers the dangers of a majority taking away the rights of some. The courts are of equal stature, and even there checks and balances occur from trial to appeal.
The 2nd amendment you enjoy with the free expression clause, but with that is also the establishment clause. The establishment clause is clarified by Supreme court precedent. For further study I would recommend Everson and Lemon, two SCOTUS cases.
Certainly we can look to the many nations where we have looked to as allies, with similar arrangements of government, and see that where all citizens are granted equal protections under the law it is the promise of civilization itself.
I hope that helps.
Best regards,

[I-US]

10:20 PM on 10/24/2010

I can think of at least five ways: equality, tolerance, diversity, compassion, and social justice--these are five core principles to a successful democracy.

Should you need contemporary examples of countries who have managed just fine by opening their military, I submit the following--a list of countries who currently allow openly gay men and women to serve in their militaries, as confirmed by the Palm Center at the University of California-Santa Barbara. Quite a few of our NATO allies are on this list.

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Uruguay

[SDB2]

08:25 PM on 10/24/2010

That's it I'm applying for White House Chief of staff, If I end up throwing Rahm Emmanuel style temper tantrums for disappointment in the Dems it better be put to good use.

"WHAT DO YOU ****** MEAN WE CAN'T REPEAL DADT!"

"C'MON YOU ****** IF THESE GOP ********* ARE GOING TO FILIBUSTER THEY HAVE TO STAND UP THERE UNTIL THEY ALL COLLAPSE FROM EXAUSTION!!!"

[barrycourage]

08:04 PM on 10/24/2010

I LOVE OBAMA!

I LOVE HILLARY!

[JoeLeland]

07:41 PM on 10/24/2010

Obama's Top Contributors.
University of California $1,591,395
Goldman Sachs $994,795
Harvard University $854,747
Microsoft Corp $833,617
Google Inc $803,436
Citigroup Inc $701,290
JPMorgan Chase & Co $695,132
Time Warner $590,084
Sidley Austin LLP $588,598
Stanford University $586,557
National Amusements Inc $551,683
UBS AG $543,219
Wilmerhale Llp $542,618
Skadden, Arps et al $530,839
IBM Corp $528,822
Columbia University $528,302
Morgan Stanley $514,881
General Electric $499,130
US Government $494,820
Latham & Watkins $493,835

[SirSlappy]

07:01 PM on 10/24/2010

Obama: "and remember teens... once you make it through high school you can't get married, or join the military because I really thing you're sub-humans."

[sLegal]

06:58 PM on 10/24/2010

Still waiting for Obama's "master plan" to spring into action

[justinlwerner]

06:56 PM on 10/24/2010

I'd really like to be able to whole-heartedly appreciate the president's "It Gets Better" video. But it rings a little hollow with his lukewarm support of gay rights thus far in his presidency. A cynical person would view it as an attempt at pacifying those LGBT folks who are getting just a little restless at the lack of progress being made toward making us full citizens of the United States of America. But I'm not that cynical. Yet.

[rialb309]

04:44 PM on 10/24/2010

I'm critical of some of the Prez's less than courageous stands, however he's still our best hope for reform. Staying home or voting for the opposition or a 3rd party with no conceivable chance (for the sake of spite) will revert the baby steps already taken fotward into giant leaps backward. People, no president in his first term has been successful in sufficiently satisfying their base, whether it was Lincoln, Kennedy or Clinton. Let's us be patient and do right thing, because the stakes this time around are so high.