“Before you echo Amen in your house or place of worship, think and remember: a child is listening.”Mary Griffith’s son, Bobby, killed himself on Aug. 27, 1983, after years of trying to find acceptance in his own home after coming out of the closet.

In the aftermath of her 20-year-old son’s death, she discovered that homosexuality was not something to correlate with an illness to be cured.

I’m reminded of her words, “A child is listening,” when I hear someone being attacked for their identity. These attacks begin with words and can escalate to death through suicide or murder.

A 15-year-old boy named Lawrence King was shot and killed on Feb. 12, 2008, by his classmate Brandon McInerney, days after King asked him to be his valentine.

The message that homosexuality is wrong is devastating to those who have barely had a chance to live and to understand there is nothing wrong with them.

If you feel that being gay is a sin, you need to know there are other Bobby Griffiths, Lawrence Kings and Brandon McInerneys. They are listening to you.

I believe we are connected to every injustice in the world. Either we are silent or we speak.

In the fall of 2008, I was discriminated against in a housing situation. I was told that I was wrong for coming out to my roommate, who had inquired three times beforehand about my sexuality.

I was also accused of using my sexual orientation as a way to get my own room and advised that staying closeted “for a few more days” would have been more appropriate.

At the end of that semester, I tried to break my contract on the grounds of discrimination and depression.

I was rejected on the grounds of “insufficient documentation.” It was far easier for them to take another couple thousand dollars from a me than to admit being wrong.

I moved out and left nothing but poster tape on those bland walls. It’s been a year and a half since, and I am not surprised to hear that Constance McMillen of Fulton, Miss., is currently facing homophobia from her high school.

After she requested to wear a tux alongside her girlfriend at the prom, McMillen’s high school reacted by cancelling the event.

In an environment that intends to educate, there is not much use for stupidity or oppression.

From our own campus to McMillen’s high school, the very people who claim to have the students’ interests at heart are doing great damage to marginalized communities.

More people each year are embracing diversity and the celebration of life around them, but there is still progress to be made.

Why should there be a line drawn that dictates who should love which gender? Why must there be legislation over those who are trying to find happiness and have no negative impact on society?

It is not a choice to be born – whether gay, straight or bisexual – but it is a choice to live.

It takes courage to endure dislike from strangers and separation from family in order to pursue a healthy, fulfilling life. It takes patience for all of us who believe in love and progress.

There is a difference between being yourself and being who you “should” be, regardless of any religious doctrine or person saying otherwise.

Some people feel that equality for gay and lesbian people is being forced upon them. Those same people don’t know what it is like to be told they aren’t worthy of marriage or adoption or, in some cases, of even being alive.

Yet they claim to feel oppressed by the notion that we are all equal and deserving of rights.

See if you remain silent the day someone belittles you for who you are. If you have trouble speaking out against systems of privilege and inequality, see if you don’t have my support.

Some facets of our behavior should be monitored – murder, rape, plagiarism – but there is nothing to gain in rallying against two people who intend to do nothing more than dance to a few cheesy songs for the pleasure of a shared memory.

For me, that is heaven enough. No amount of hell I receive for it will stop me.

It is neither sin nor illness that compels me. It is the human condition.

You have every right to disagree, as long as you remember Mary Griffith’s words: “A child is listening.

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