Introduction / Dan Savage -- A message from President Barack Obama / by 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 / by 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 James Wharton -- Getting stronger and staying alive / by Gabrielle Rivera -- Coming out of the Shtetl: gay Orthodox Jews / by Marc Tannen -- Going back in / by Mare Vaporum Corp -- And the Emmy goes to ... / by Barbara Gaines -- A message from US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton used by permission of the US Department of State -- This I know for sure / by A.Y. Daring -- It gets better Broadway / by the contributors to It Gets Better Broadway -- Rockin' the flannel shirt / by Krissy Mahan -- How it got better for an ordained Christian minister / by 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 used by permission of the Prime Minister's Office, London -- 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 / by Al Franken -- Transsexual prairie girl / by Tamsyn Waterhouse -- Art from rage / by Jason Sellards -- It gets better / 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 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 / by Nancy Pelosi -- Gunn's golden rules / by Tim Gunn -- Perfect, just the way you are / by Darren Hayes -- Where happiness is / by Natalie S. Mandelin -- Not-normal / by Michael K. Wells. Born this way / by Perez Hilton -- Darn it / by Kate Clinton -- Look at the moon / by Agustn̕ Cepeda -- Critical shifts / by Jesse Barnes -- For Aideybear / by Ava Dodge -- A message from John Berry / by 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 -- 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 Foxworthy and Bryan Leffew -- Bully me / by Congregation Beit Simchat Torah -- To the bullies / by Tristan Jackson (TJ) -- The good fight -- by Kristel Yoneda -- A message from Kevin Hague / by Kevin Hague -- 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 -- 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 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- 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 -- I wish I'd been sassier! / by Brian Gallivan -- 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 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 Cooter Space -- Closets on fire / by Anthony Antoine -- The King brothers / by Dick King 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.