@Wordyhero - just stay our ally and you're a hero in my book. Thanks for the support.

@RunTroughTheRain - Your post reminds me of a picture I had once posted somewhere. It basically was two pictures on it, the one of the left titled "1960" with a picketer holding a sign that said, "Interracial Marriage," with an X through it and the picketer saying, "We're just protecting the sanctity of marriage." The one on the right was titled 2000 with a black picketer holding a sign that said, "Gay Marriage," on it with an X through it and saying, "What he said," jabbing his thumb towards the picture on the left.

Someone commented, "I got here because the first frame lost and one day my kids will be able to have two loving moms legally because the second will not stand...... "

I think our kids will be lucky to be raised by people like us.

@crazy2love - Alright, I know it's totally my own bias here, but I always am happy when people say bisexual. Not that any other orientation is less or anything but...you know...bi's pretty much rock.

@CatastrophicKitten - "It's not a fad, it's not to get attention, and I'm not trying to be 'sexier'.  I'm just attracted to both sexes... I don't see what the big deal is."

That's how I always thought of it. Some of the crazy rumors people make up about orientation...I just have to wonder. Really, it's not that confusing - we swear.

@beautifulchaos2 - That's fantastic. I'm so glad I could have helped in that fashion. It shouldn't be a crime to just be you.

@Cosmar - Well, I have to start out with saying that it's not gender that is generally proclaimed, it's biological sex. I know it's kinda a small point, but I just feel I ought to make note of it.

As for your question – that's actually a facinating look into the concepts behind marginalized groups. I had written an entire xanga entry, actually, a little while ago about this. I could find it for you, if you're every interested.

Basically, with most groups that are cut off from the general population, isolated, and (usually) are allowed to develop a culture of their own, they really cling to that identity and make something that most would find trivial huge. We've seen this happen with blacks in this country and the Black Power movement, etc. For a variety of different things, it's a reclaiming of their identity, which basically had no voice before. Also, due to the isolation they faced, they tend to merge identity pride and their causes. As long as they're persecution and opposition continues, they'll continue this identity.

Now, I was raised in suburbia. My mom has this bizzare internal racism and my father is white. As such, they raised me with the sense that racism is simply treating someone poorly for their race, etc.

And, while it's a little more complicated than that, I would agree. I personally don't have a racial identity and would love race to someday become like hair color – yes, it makes us different, but who cares? We all have skin.

Likewise, you're right, orientation should be something trivial. Not something you proclaim but something that you find out when the co-worker mentions in the conversation about the weekend that he and the boyfriend went to see a movie.

However – given the huge lack of information abotu sexuality and the amount of work that still needs to be done towards making things equal for all sexualities – we cannot be silent about it.

Now, again, I know what it's like to be part of a minority and not be isolated. So, yes, I think the whole making-your-orientation-your-entire-identity thing is unnecessary and the wrong way to go about equality (though I understand where it comes from).

But we do need to talk about sexuality. And, given that people (uneducated people, sure, but they make up a big portion of the population at this time) just assume that you will be heterosexual, we need to identify in order for people to realize that there are other orientations out there. Plus, I agree with what a friend of mine said to me today – often it just takes exposure. People find odd and weird and not normal that which they don't often see. When people start realizing that non-straight people are actually all around them (because, let's be honest, as a minority you can't really just pick us out from a crowd or doing our daily work like you can the color of someone's skin), they'll begin to be more comfortable and understanding of it.

Really, coming out is not only to shed some of the guilt for other people but also partly to bring awareness to the fact that we do exist (and not in just the dramaticized ways that the media shows us, so far off and like an Other) and that there are a lot of problems which still need to be taken care of. And, really, we need your help if we ever hope to acheive such equality.

So, when I say "state it", I'm mostly refering to here. When I say to come out in this post, I mean just live your life honestly. Be able to mention in regular conversation that you do have a boyfriend, just as any other guy might mention they have a girlfriend, instead of never mentioning it. Hold their hand in public like anyone else would instead of waiting until you're away from watching eyes. Live your life naturally, basically, rather than trying to make sure no one else knows.

Plus coming out helps to not demonize yourself with all the nasty things people tend to say about gays. It's really just more healthy. So there's a score of reasons why it's important.

I hope this helped clear this up a little.

@kassandrag - I'm glad it was able to do so. Honestly, that you took the time to read this means more than I can express. So many wouldn't have even bothered. So thank you.

@razzle_dazzle_lip_gloss - heh, so glad you agree

@TheSmokeMonster - that or bisexual. While we can't say anything for certain, we can certainly say that he had same-sex interactions of a sensual nature. And there's at least one poem of his that is in outright sympathy for the gay community of his time.

There are a lot of great figures that either get swept under the rug or their sexuality is made to look straight or not even acknowledged, no matter what, because others feel that it doesn't "fit well" with the other great things they have done.

In relation to Langston Hughes and on the topic of great figures in history, most of the great artists that came out of the Harlem Renaissance were gay or bisexual. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjRn7_cC8N4

@Galbsadi - All support is always appreciated. Much thanks.

@comalee - thanks!

@Blue11moon - I'm glad you're able to speak your silence now. I'm sure she should have felt flattered, if you had admitted it to her.

@andfeud - Well, it's good to know I'm doing at least one thing right today.

@yourbonesmakemerandy - When I read your post, I hear, "Non-violence doesn't do anything; we need to fight back for change to occur."

Let me explain.

Most people, no matter how noble the cause, will not listen to you if you speak in a fashion they find rude. Of course, that's kind of insulting, considering we find what they're doing to be more than rude, but that's the way things works.

To more complicate things, some people honestly are just ignorant and don't understand the issue. So, they don't even realize that what they're doing is absolutely aweful; by all technicality, they aren't bad people.

Like you said, we need "to educate the ignorant". I absolutely agree.

And that's exactly what the day of silence is about.

I leave my hauty, in-your-face, and isolating attacks for those who I know I will never convince or those who are having a hard time listening.

We weren't seen in the 60s. So we rioted at Stonewall. We burned that fucker down, then went back the next day and did it again.

To do that now, in this day and age (usually, but not always), would be considered rude, dangerous, and unnecessary. "Oh, look at those gays, blowing things out of proportion." Peaceful talking to and educating is needed.

That's what the Day of Silence is for. Sadly, people are often stupid, and they look for legitimacy in numbers. If enough people are being silent, you think the meeker ones are going to make a disruption? Rather, they'll likely think, "Oh...maybe I'm missing something."

And in the high schools, it's the perfect protest. People always complain that gays are being disruptive, that they're asking for too much. Here - the student is just being quiet which is their right. You will notice when someone isn't talking. It's a perfect representation of the sybollic (and sometimes literal) silence that others must face when dealing with sexuality.

It's voluntary for the students, gets people's attention, and gets them to actually think about these issues - why silence, why would people bother participating?

Now, you're right - some people will be mean (to put that lightly). You don't backdown when someone calls you a slur as derogitory as nigger or faggot.

But for those who simply need education on the subject, this is an amazing protest.

This isn't about silencing ourselves. It's about drawing attention to and representing in another, more clear way that silence that we continually have to endure - and then, once we have their attention, educating them and then, eventually, having them understand it.