Through The fourteen short years I have been privileged to live on this earth, I have been called many things; however, most call me by my name. My name is Brian. Recently, rumors have been circulating around my school that I am gay, a homosexual, or 'into guys' as my friend so eloquently put it. I have received hate mail online, and I have received drawings on top of my locker depicting me having intimate relations with other young men at the school. My grades, my attendance, my friendships, and my future have been affected by this ordeal. I consulted those closest to me as to what I should do. Meanwhile, I was losing many of my male friends. I experienced disloyalty from those whom I knew would be loyal, and vice-versa. Throughout my parents supported me, as did my friends, but still, I could not handle it alone. Soon, my emotions started changing from sorrow, fear and confusion to anger. It is that anger that drives this article. I am angry that my peers can be so blatantly stupid as to take rumors as fact, and I am angry that this has affected me in the way it has. I needed to be stronger.. But I realize it is not just I who has felt these feelings. Many before me have, and many later will. It is for these people that I am angry. I am angry that I am not the only one facing this treatment. I am angry that in this supposed melting pot of a nation, people are shunned every day for the slightest whisper of being different from the majority. For, was this nation not founded on the principal that the majority rules, but the minority must have their rights as well? My grades, friendship, and future have been affected by my internal struggle, and by these rumors. But these rumors, the hate mail, and the harassment were not the start of my internal struggle. For I am, and have always been, too trusting of a person, and I made the source of my struggle known to certain persons. It is my sincere belief that these persons started the rumors about me, which I thought had ruined the past few months for me. But I knew to use this time as a learning experience. Something that has touched me, and will be a memory that is in the back of my mind for years to come. My intent in this article, however, is not to complain about things that are in the past. The intent of this article was to say that the rumors are indeed true. I am a gay American, a homosexual. "Into guys", like so many before me, and so many to come. But as we are at the dawn of a new age of civil rights, a different kind of civil rights than many may expect, I would like to emphasize that I am a person. A person just like you, your best friend, your mother, or your father. I am, first and foremost, an American citizen, and my intent is to do what is best for the country that I love. What I believe I should do, and know is best, is to start a revolution. Not in the sense of overthrowing a government, but in the sense of beginning a new age for Americans of all orientations. This, because everyone is a person. Dr. Seuss said it best, that we are all people, no matter great or small, short or tall. In his words, it is most elegantly and simply expressed that we are all people. And it is our right, and our duty to stand up and accept those who may be different from us, no matter how difficult that may be. I am here to start a revolution, a new mindset for American people; that we must accept all people, for if we wish to succeed as a nation, we must. If we alienate one portion of our population, how can we stay united as a land? It is essential, critical, that this nation lives out the true meaning of its creed, that all men are created equal. The only question is, regardless of orientation, Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or straight, will you become part of the fight for true equality for all Americans? Will you stand up for those whom cannot stand up for themselves? I hope sincerely that that answer is an avowed, resounding, 'Yes.'