Anderson Cooper Joins Slew of Stars Sticking Up for Gay Teens

Oct. 8, 2010 — -- Anderson Cooper's jumping into the fight to stop teen bullying, and he's found a foe in Vince Vaughn.

The CNN anchor visited "The Ellen Degeneres Show" this week to condemn teen bullying. A particular point of contention: Vaughn's upcoming movie "The Dilemma," in which his character proclaims, "Ladies and gentleman, electric cars are gay." A trailer for "The Dilemma" featuring that line is currently playing in theaters.

"There was a preview of a movie, and in it, the actor said, 'That's so gay,' and I was shocked that not only that they put it in the movie, but that they put that in the preview," Cooper said. "They thought that it was OK to put that in a preview for the movie to get people to go and see it."

"I just find those words, those terms, we've got to do something to make those words unacceptable cause those words are hurting kids," Cooper continued. "Someone else I talked to recently said that the words people use and the things people say about other kids online, it enters into their internal dialogue. And when you're a kid, it can change the way you see yourself and the way you think about yourself, and the worth that you give to yourself. I think we need to really focus on what language we're using and how we're treating these kids."

Universal, the studio putting out "The Dilemma," heard Cooper loud and clear. Today, Universal confirmed to GLAAD (The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) that they will remove the "gay" scene from the movie's trailer.

Cooper's not alone -- Hollywood loves a good cause. From dolphins to disasters of the natural kind, celebrities are, more often than not, quick to latch on to a crisis.

The latest one is particularly tragic. In September at least five teenage boys committed suicide after being tormented for being gay -- most recently Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi. Now, actors, musicians, comedians and celebrity personalities are making moves to stop teen bullying.

Kathy Griffin is donating all proceeds of her Dec. 16 comedy show at Los Angeles' Gibson Universal Amphitheatre to The Trevor Project, an organization focused on suicide prevention among LGBT youth. Advice columnist Dan Savage created the "It Gets Better" Project, in which people can upload videos to YouTube offering support and hope to LGBT teenagers. Gossip blogger Perez Hilton joined Savage's effort and is urging celebrities to jump on the bandwagon as well.

"I lost about 200,000 followers on Twitter because I was tweeting these celebrities to ask them to make videos," Hilton told ABCNews.com. "I don't regret it. I'd do it again. I'm happy I lost 200,000 followers on Twitter because I was able to get a lot of celebrities to make videos."

Among them: Tim Gunn, Sarah Silverman, Ashley Tisdale, Jewel and Eve. The list keeps growing. Hilton said he talked with "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy about having the cast of the Fox hit show make a video and working an anti-bullying theme into "Glee's" storyline.

Having once been a closeted gay teen in an all-boys high school, Hilton said he's wholeheartedly committed to this cause.

"What's really powerful is to admit and acknowledge that we've all been bullies," he said. "I've been a bully, I can still be a bully on my website. The point is to not be a bully to the point where someone is going to want to kill themselves -- threatening violence, calling them homophobic names repeatedly. I'm not asking anyone to be perfect. I'm not perfect. I just want people to engage in this conversation."

Droves of stars are speaking out about their own experiences being bullied and what teens and adults can do about bullying. Take a look at ten more of the anti-bullying movement's loudest celebrity advocates: