Obama tells gay teens ‘It Gets Better’

President Barack Obama has joined the viral "It Gets Better" campaign, filming another in the series of high-profile videos urging troubled gay teens not to take their own lives. The title of the series is a reassurance that bullying over their sexuality will eventually stop.

"I don't know what it's like to be picked on for being gay. But I do know what it's like to grow up feeling that sometimes you don't belong. It's tough," Obama says in the video. He said he was "shocked and saddened" to hear of bullied young people who recently took their own lives.

"The other thing you need to know is, things will get better," he says. " And more than that, with time you're going to see that your differences are a source of pride and a source of strength. You'll look back on the struggles you've faced with compassion and wisdom. And that's not just going to serve you, but it will help you get involved and make this country a better place."

You can watch his comments below:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also cut an "It Gets Better" video this week and wore head-to-toe purple on Wednesday as part of an anti-bullying campaign.

Ben Smith of Politico speculates that the White House "is looking for [non-legislative] ways to rally all elements of the Democratic base, including gay voters, behind the Democratic cause, and this may be a powerful one."

Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett apologized this week to the gay community for suggesting that being gay was a lifestyle choice. And the Obama administration has had a tough time explaining why it's continuing to fight to uphold the military's ban on openly gay service in the courts, even though administration officials are opposed to the policy.

You can read our interview with Dan Savage, the creator of the project, and find more videos here. You can also check out our interview with suicide prevention expert Ann Haas, who says the issue of mental illness has been dangerously ignored in the conversation around bullied kids who die by suicide.

(Photo of Obama as a college student in New York: AP)