An LGBT book project based in
California is headed by 14-year-old Amelia Roskin-Frazeel.
The Make
It Safe Project donates books about sexual orientation and gender
identity to K-12 schools, school Gay-Straight Alliance clubs, and
LGBT-inclusive youth homeless shelters which would otherwise do
without.
“Many young lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender (LGBT) teens only hear the word 'gay' when it is used
to mean 'bad,' as in the phrase, 'That's so gay,'” the group said
at its website. “Schools rarely have books about being LGBT and
most health curricula overlook LGBT relationships, sending a message
to their LGBT students that they are not worth as much as their
straight peers. As a result, startling numbers of LGBT teens have
been bullied to the point where they have taken their own lives.”
Roskin-Frazeel founded her school's
Gay-Straight Alliance, The Rainbow Connection, after she decided to
stop arguing for gay rights and begin arguing for her rights.
She came out to family and friends at
the age of 12.
“I interjected when I heard people
use homophobic slurs,” she wrote in
a post. “Most importantly, I was honest when people asked if I
was a lesbian. I became the first openly gay kid in my school, and I
am proud of it.”