Excited by silence.

How do I explain who I am? I suppose I can label myself like I would in a personal ad: 16-year-old bisexual Asian activist who likes hot cocoa and doesn't particularly love long walks on the beach. Instead I choose to define myself by actions, events, and ideas.

Getting involved with the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network is one important thing that has shaped who I am. My flint experience with GLSEN was during my freshman year at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. I couldn't remember ever being more excited about anything than joining the school's gay-straight alliance, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Spectrum. I learned about an event called the Day of Silence Project, a national youth-led movement in which students take a vow of silence for the school day in order to protest the violence, bias, mid discrimination--the "silencing"--that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered students face in our schools every day.

I was sure some students did it just to avoid class participation. There were "also students who were unable to remain completely silent, so they passed notes to one another. But I did not become disenchanted. Regardless of why or how a student participated, they raised awareness about the dangers LGBT students face. They shed light on the fact that homophobic comments are heard every day, and often our teachers don't know what to do.

I am now more driven by big concepts, such as ensuring that my school and all schools are safe and effective learn hag environments for LGBT students.

The Advocate invites GLBT youths to write about their lives in this space. To contribute, E-mail [e-mail].