Dan Savage discusses his It Gets Better Project, created to give hope to LGBT high school students.

1.) Why did you decide to start the It Gets Better Project?

I was thinking about the suicide of Billy Lucas, soon after reading about the suicide of Justin Aaberg, and I had the reaction I've always had when a gay teenager kills himself: "I wish I could've talked to that kid for five minutes and been able to tell him that it gets better."

But we're not allowed, as gay adults, to talk to these kids. We would never get permission, or an invitation. Their parents, preachers, and teachers don't want gay adults reaching out to gay kids to give them messages of hope or share coping skills or to prove that what they've been told about being gay is a lie by showing them what of our lives are like now.

And then I realized that I was waiting for permission that I didn't need anymore—in the YouTube era, I could, into a video camera, talk to gay kids who are being bullied, and give them hope, advice, coping strategies, and share my life with them.

2.) What has the response been since you started the project?

We're completely overwhelmed—in every sense of the word. We haven't been able to keep up with the pace of submissions. We want to review every video before we post it, and there are so many that we literally can't keep up. It's also been emotionally overwhelming. Some of the stories are heartbreaking.

3.) What surprised you about the response, or in setting up the project?

I guess I'm surprised that someone didn't think of this sooner—clearly I wasn't the only gay person out there thinking, "I wish I could've told him—Billy, Justin, Seth, Asher—that it gets better." A lot of LGBT people were feeling that way, but not reaching out because no one had extended an invitation or given them permission to talk to these kids. Until we launched the IGBP and essentially gave ourselves permission to reach out to these kids whether their preachers, teachers, and parents like it or not.

4.) What impact do you hope the project will have within a year's time?

Well, in a year's time, in ten year's time, all the videos will still be online, and still accessible to kids who need to hear their messages of hope, or learn what they can do to cope from people who've been there, or find out about how they can make it better in their schools right now. Unlike red ribbons, which are now moldering in dresser drawers and landfills, the videos will continue to do exactly what they're designed to do even after their "moment" has passed. People will move on to other causes, other issues that we need to raise awareness about, but the videos will still be there, still useful, still accessible.

5.) What aspect of the project do you see yourself pushing further?

We want to make it a fundraising engine—not for us. YouTube is free. But for things like The Trevor Project and perhaps the ACLU, which does amazing work defending the rights of LGBT high school students.