the student handbook at my school reads: \"The Board of Education will not tolerate any act of harassment or discrimination or hostile acts toward any student or staff member based on that person\'s race, religion, color, national origin, physical or mental disability, or gender\" (CCPS Student Handbook page3). now, to go through all that trouble to specify what you can\'t discriminate against makes you wonder if adding \"sexuality, sexual preference, or sexual appearance\" was just too difficult for the hardworking board of administrators, intentional or just an oversight. either way, i intend to start a petition to add at least \"sexuality\" to this list. in june of last school year, i was confronted by a teacher regarding an innocent goodbye kiss, which just happened to be homosexual. how many times have you seen heterosexual couples kissing in the hallways and do they receive hateful words when they\'re holding hands or hugging a bunch of my teachers have congratulated me on my ability to be so open and proud of who i am. i\'ve even received big \"whoo hoo!\"\'s from my classmates doing the same. although, i\'m happy to say i have such open-minded friends, not everyone is as lucky as i am. people are forced to keep their identities hidden for fear of losing friends or face because of it, no matter how proud they are of their sexuality. think of how many times you\'ve heard someone say \"faggot\" or how many times you\'ve heard \"gay\" used in casual conversation. it DOES NOT make it any better to say you didn\'t mean \"homosexual\", it only makes it worse. by saying you mean stupid when you say \"faggot\" or \"gay\", means you equate stupidity with homosexuality on some level. that bothers me more. the gay revolution has started again. we\'re everywhere! i know it would be easier to find us if we were purple with horns, but here\'s the catcher...we look just like you! i\'m not the type of person who likes to watch what i say and who i say it to, i bet you\'re not either. so just don\'t say it at all. please support me, if not the gay community and remember...A CLOSET IS A TERRIBLE PLACE TO RAISE A CHILD!