Gale Harold, who played bad boy Brian Kinney on Showtime's groundbreaking gay drama Queer as Folk, has recorded an It Gets Better video in which he names Tennessee Williams a personal hero.

The It Gets Better Project begun by gay rights activist Dan Savage encourages troubled LGBT teens to not cave in to bullies, because life eventually gets better.

In a 60-second video released Tuesday, Harold advises gay teens to remember their heroes.

“Some of the most important people in my life lived through what a lot of you are going through right now. And they stayed true no matter how painful and they probably considered backing out many times, but I thank God that they didn't,” said Harold.

“For instance, someone like Tennessee Williams. If he hadn't done what he did, we wouldn't have that beautiful art to read and to watch on the stage. … The truth will come out. It gets better.” (The video is embedded on this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)