It gets better: coming out, overcoming bullying, and creating a life worth living

Introduction / by Dan Savage

A message from President Barack Obama

You will find your people / by Laurel Slongwhite

The life almost lost / by Bruce Ortiz

In the early morning rain / by Jennifer Finney Boylan

Something has changed within me / by Gregory Maguire

Action makes it better / by Urvashi Vaid

You are a rubber band, my friend / by Brinae Lois Gaudet

God believes in you / by Bishop Gene Robinson

The person worth fighting for is you / by Alex R. Orue

A message from Ellen DeGeneres

Life unfolds exactly as it should (but not as you planned) / by Sean Blane and David Rosen

It gets better for a British soldier / by Lance Corporal James Wharton

Getting stronger and staying alive / by Gabrielle Rivera

Coming out of the Shtetl : gay Orthodox Jews / by Marc Tannen, Chaim Levin, Ely Winkler, Justin Spiro, Moishie Rabinowitz, and Mordechai Levovitz

Going back in / by Michael Cunningham

And the Emmy goes to

/

by Barbara Gaines

A message from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

This I know for sure / by A. Y. Daring

It gets better Broadway / by members of the Broadway and New York Theater Community

Rockin' the flannel shirt / by Krissy Mahan

How it got better for an ordained Christian minister / by Professor Stephen V. Sprinkle

Out of darkness / by Philip Deal

I was a teenage lesbian / by Alison Bechdel

Something special / by Sia Furler

The dinner party / by Adam Roberts

What I wish I knew / by Ivan Coyote

Freedom from fear / by Michael Feinstein

A message from Prime Minister David Cameron

You will meet people who celebrate you / by Jenn and Erika Wagner-Martin

An identity unfolded / by Mark Ramirez

A message from Suze Orman

Brothers : it gets better / by Lenox Magee, Rannon Harris, David Dodd, and Kean Ray

Drop dead, warlock / by David Sedaris

Gwendolyn gone / by Meshell Ndegeocello

Growing up gay... and Kinky / by Dart

The biggest gift / by Stewart Taylor

A message from Senator Al Franken

Transsexual prairie girl / by Tamsyn Waterhouse

Art from rage / by Jake Shears

It gets better (Btkoun Ahsan) / by Bashar Makhay

Too good to be true / by Cameron Tuttle

Journey to a better life / by Juan Carlos Galan, MS

The gay guy in the band / by Kevin Samuel Yee

Will I grow up to be Paul Lynde? / by Andy Cohen

Finding who I am / by Hunter Adeline Brady

Community / by Chaz Bono

A message from Nancy Pelosi

Gunn's golden rules / by Tim Gunn

Perfect, just the way you are / by Darren Hayes

Where happiness is / by Natalie Sperry Mandelin

Not-normal / by Michael K. Wells

Darn it / by Kate Clinton

Look at the moon / by Agustnín Cepeda

Critical shifts / by Jesse Barnes

For Aideybear / by Ava Dodge

A message from John Berry

The show must go on / by Kyle Dean Massey

Survival tools / by Ellen Forney

Dear Uncle Ronnie / by Randy Roberts Potts

My office wall / by Trevor Corneil, MD

Keep on livin' / by J. D. Samson

It gets better because you're a little different / by Dave Holmes

Unapologetically, me / by Demetrius Gittens

A collective voice / by Gabe Milligan-Green, Addy Cahill, and Russell Peck

I didn't always wear a tuxedo / by Murray Hill

How I got over / by Tuan N'Gai

A "better" evolution / by Joseph Odysseus Mastro

Save yourself, save the world / by Khris Brown

Becoming an authentic person / by Nicholas Wheeler

On the other side / by Jay A. Foxworthy and Bryan Leffew

Bully me / Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum

To the bullies / by Tristan Jackson

The good fight / by Kristel Yoneda

A message from Kevin Hague MP

Haters can't hate someone who loves themselves, and if they do, who cares / by Lynn Breedlove

Not playing at a cinema near you / by Rebecca Brown

From "faggot" to field biologist / by Christopher A. Schmitt, PhD

It got better / by Stephen D. Lorimor

Our parents as allies / by Lawrence Gullo, Fyodor Pavlov, Eileen Charbonneau, and Ed Gullo

Lesbian teacher believes in you / by Kristin Rivers

Stepping off the sidelines / by Wayne Knaub

My own worst enemy / by Jessica Leshnoff

You are a beloved child of God / by Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson

Transgendered and self-educated in Maine / by Jean Vermette

The power of "You" / by Luan Legacy

It gets better for small towners, too / by Dwayne Steward

To me : with love and squalor / by Terry Galloway

Happiness is inevitable / by Henry Winfiele

Wish I'd been sassier! / by Brian Gallivan aka Gay Sassy Friend

Protect and serve loves Semper Fidelis / by J. D. Davis and Allen D. Stone

The doors of acceptance / by Shaun Ridgway

Hope out of tragedy / by Matthew Anthony Houck

Patience makes perfect

sense /

by Angelo D'Agostino

Christian LGBT kids : you're part of the plan / by Raven Mardirosian

Terrible day / by Patrick Murphy

The worst of both worlds / by Michelle Faid

Closets on fire / by Anthony Antoine

The King brothers / by Dick and Mark S. King

Community found / by Taylor Bailey

From scared to proud : the journey of a gay medical student / by Jake Kleinman

Authentic self / by Sara Sperling

You can live a life that's worth living / by Kate Bornstein

Epilogue / Terry Miller.

Introduction / by Dan Savage