Imagine this: It’s your freshman year of college, and you’re moving into your new dorm. You meet your roommate, and you’re hoping to hit it off, since this is the person you’re going to be living with. As you’re getting to know each other, you find out she’s a lesbian. What would you say to that?

It’s not something I would make a big deal of. At least that’s what is running through my head as my teacher tells us about an “incident” where a girl from our school was paired with a lesbian roommate. Our teacher says that if we ever find ourselves in a similar situation we should switch rooms. Based on my teachers advice, you would think that sharing a room with someone who is gay or lesbian is as bad as sharing a room with a murderer. As I’m rolling my eyes at my teacher’s ignorance, one of the boys obnoxiously says that he would want to switch rooms because he would be afraid of being raped. I assure him he would have nothing to worry about and told him not to flatter himself.

Being gay or lesbian is not equivalent to being a rapist. Whether someone rapes another person has nothing to do with his or her sexual orientation. And being attracted to people of the same sex does not mean people who are gay or lesbian want to get with everyone they see who’s the same sex. Saying a gay or lesbian person wants every person they see is like saying a heterosexual guy likes every girl he looks at.

So, if you’re heterosexual, don’t assume every gay or lesbian person is really into you, because chances are they’re not. If you find yourself paired with a gay roommate it’s likely they’re not going to make a big deal out of it, so you shouldn’t either.

—Kristen Choucrallah, 16, Staff Writer

Prom is one of the most popular high school traditions in the United States. You dress up, take pictures, eat dinner and dance the night away. Well, this won’t be the case for students at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi.

After learning that 18-year-old Constance McMillen would wear a tuxedo and escort her girlfriend to prom, the school sent around a notice, saying that students could not bring same-sex dates to prom. Constance went to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Mississippi for help. The ACLU sent a letter to the school demanding that Constance be allowed to bring her date to prom. The school board responded by cancelling the event all together. The ACLU is still fighting to have the school reinstate the prom and allow Constance to wear a tuxedo and bring her girlfriend.

Students should have the right to wear a tuxedo or dress to prom and to bring dates, no matter their dates’ gender. Do you want to support Constance and take a small step in tackling the issue of homophobia? Dress You Up in My Love/The Nationwide Equality Prom is a virtual prom that will be held on April 2nd, the day that Constance should be having her prom. People everywhere are encouraged to dress up as if they were attending prom to draw attention to this issue. Why should prom be limited to teens with a specific sexual orientation or gender identity? Teens everywhere should be free to express themselves and be comfortable being who they are.

—Chelsea Sirico, 17, Staff Writer

Girls can wear dresses or pants. Right? Apparently not at prom. Sex, Etc. magazine recently reported that a 17-year-old girl in Indiana wanted to express her gender by wearing a tuxedo to prom. She was denied this right, because her school’s dress code required girls to wear dresses to prom. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit that resulted in the elimination of clothing restrictions based on sex.

You might be quick to blow this off as a rare occurrence, but issues like this come up more than you would think. At all-male, Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, there’s a new “Appropriate Attire Policy” that prohibits students from carrying purses or wearing dresses, makeup or high heels. A few weeks ago in Wesson, MS, a female student wore a tuxedo in her school picture, but the school would not allow her photograph to be published in the yearbook.

It is very discouraging that so many people and institutions are not accepting or understanding of how people choose to express their feelings of being male or female. Sadly, people often do not approve of things that they are not used to. There are many people in the world whose gender expression does not match our expectations of how guys or girls should act or dress. If we keep educating people and exposing them to the different ways that people choose to express their gender, perhaps we can eliminate the kind of discrimination these students faced.

-Melanie Johnson, 17, Staff Writer

Name: Adam Lambert
Age: 27
Hometown: Hollywood, CA
Claim to Fame: American Idol runner-up
Sexual Orientation: ?

For a while, there was speculation about whether American Idol’s latest runner-up was gay, but never any confirmation—until now. Lambert has officially come out in Rolling Stone magazine, saying “I don’t think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I’m gay.” But why all the fuss in the first place?

Maybe it started with Idol’s season two runner-up, Clay Aiken, who kept the fact that he was gay a secret. In an interview with People magazine years after he was on Idol, Aiken credited his newborn son as the inspiration to stop hiding about his sexual orientation.

Perhaps then, Lambert’s coming out is a step in the right direction: he neither shied away from the rumors nor made his orientation a huge deal. And whether he planned to or not, this can be seen as encouragement to gay, lesbian and bisexual people—during Gay Pride month, no less—to be out and proud.

Want to make a safe space for teens to be out and proud at your school? Check out Nick’s story on forming a gay-straight alliance (GSA).

—Anita Modi, 17, Staff Writer

Lots of schools have an anti-bullying policy to protect students from name-calling and harassment. So, why do phrases, like “that’s so gay” and “faggot,” often go unchecked in schools? This kind of rampant homophobia in so many schools can lead to tragic results.

Eleven-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover hanged himself last week after students persistently bullied him in school. Carl was harassed daily and was often called “girlie,” “gay” and “fag,” according to his mother. Check out the video below for a CNN report on Carl’s suicide:

It’s ironic that Carl would have turned 12 on April 17th—the same day as this year’s Day of Silence (DOS). Thousands of students are expected to participate in this year’s DOS, a day to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. If you want to stand up and fight discrimination, then be a part of DOS: Wear red and remain silent throughout the day, unless called on to participate in class. Your silence will send a message that homophobia and LGBT discrimination has to stop.