Though suicide is an incredibly complex phenomenon that defies linear explanations, homosexuality almost certainly played a role in Mike’s death. Essays and writings that Mike left behind express profound turmoil about his sexual identity and personal goals. Even though we can only guess speculatively at Mike’s motives, we do know that suicide is an act of desperation. Statistics show that gay teens are over three times more likely than their straight peers to attempt suicide because they experience greater marginalization and loneliness. For someone like Mike who grew up craving success, praise and recognition, the prospect of living with homosexuality and the hatred it provokes must have seemed like an intolerable burden to bear.

I keep Mike’s writings in a folder in my desk, and every so often I pull them out and flip through their now-tattered and dog-eared pages. Each time, I am impressed by the brilliance and clarity of his voice and saddened by his premature demise. We have lost Mike and the great things he would undoubtedly have achieved. This is the incalculable, incomprehensible cost of a world that teaches people to be normal or to be silent.

Homophobia and discrimination touch everyone, regardless of sexual orientation. With this in mind, I would like to invite all of you to join me tomorrow in Harvard’s Day of Silence 2001. We need a day of silence to remind ourselves of the costs of intolerance. When you hear the silence around you on Wednesday, think of all the voices you do not hear. In a world where some lovers dare not speak their name, silence will continue to kill. Let us join together in silence and break its hold on us forever.

Albert H. Cho ’02 is a social studies concentrator in Adams House. He is co-chair of the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters Alliance.