Harassment and/or discrimination can be something as simple as someone saying, "That's So Gay." As a young LGBT person, you deal with a lot on a day to day basis, so hearing something like, "That's So Gay" can be the last push someone needs to lead them into depression.

Words can hurt somebody really bad, especially if it comes from their peers at school. Even if the words aren’t directed at someone personally, just hearing them can be very uncomfortable. Hate words can be anything that brings a certain group of people down, such as people with different sexual orientation, sex, race or religion than you.

Whether or not someone wants people to know about their sexual orientation, it’s really only that person's business! It should be left up to the individual to come out whenever he or she feels comfortable doing so. Revealing someone's sexual orientation to others is a form of discrimination and intimidation that could lead to serious consequences for that person.

Name-calling can escalate into violence and/or hate crimes. If this happens you should get help immediately. Once you are safe you should report the incident to both police and your school.

Acts of harrasment and discrimination have consequences. LGBT youth have a lot of crap to deal with on a daily basis. Besides problems at school LGBT youth may have families that don't accept them as well, so don't assume someone is tough enough to handle things at school. LGBT youth are 2-3 times more likely to commit suicide than heterosexual youth, so the consequences can be pretty devastating!