Around the internet lately there’s been an amazing youtube project called It Gets Better that’s been getting all kinds of well deserved attention. In the past months there has been increasing media coverage of teenage suicides that were the direct result of LGBT youth being targeted, teased and bullied past a point where they wanted to live. It Gets Better is a way for LGBT adults to bypass the red tape and speak directly to teens who are struggling, to encourage them to stay with us.

I think anyone who has been a teenager struggling to fit in knows how difficult those years can be, even in the best of situations. I have friends who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered, and trying to fathom the added stresses of trying to navigate normal teenage life while trying to understand your sexuality, avoid bullies, figure out how and when to come out, and confronting hate head on? It makes my head spin, especially so after seeing it in person.

Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks & Other Outlaws is an amazing book that I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who is struggling with being on the outside, no matter your age. It’s a thoroughly bad ass self help book- witty and quirky, matter of fact and encouraging, with 101 suggestions for getting through life while living outside of the box.

It specifically addresses the author’s own experience as a transgendered person, has a whole section dedicated to understanding and navigating bullies, and then moves on to suggestions on how to get by when you’re having trouble getting up in the morning. Everything from well accepted strategies (seeing a therapist, talking with a friend, seeking medical attention) to the author’s own suggestions: make believe, defy prophecy, be your own evil twin & get laid. And even better, they’re ranked in order of safety, efficacy & moral concern.

The message of the book is simple:

You should do anything it takes to make your life worth living- just don’t be mean. That’s the only rule you ever need to follow to make sure that your life is going to get better.

All I can say is here here! Thank goodness for the outsiders, weirdos, geeks, and lawbreakers. They make us better, braver and, most importantly, kinder people. And they’re some of my best friends. <3

Want more of It Gets Better?
Watch my friend Ben & Rachel’s vlogs, watch Ellen’s call to action, Like It Gets Better on Facebook or read Dan Savage’s column that started the project.