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Lake teen gets national attention for efforts to start gay-straight club
Bayli Silbertsein, an openly bisexual eighth-grader, speaks calmly with herds of anxious reporters, on her popular YouTube video and before hundreds of residents at public meetings where the fate of her proposed gay-straight club is at stake.
She has gained national attention for her efforts to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at Carver Middle School in Leesburg to combat bullying. Supporters don red shirts in her honor, more than 50,000 signed an online petition of support and a Google search of her name returns more than 10,600 hits. Then on Thursday she spoke about bullying alongside federal lawmakers who announced they would file a bill to forbid discrimination against students based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Bayli, 14, said because of her efforts some have called her hero — a label she flatly rejects.
"I feel like I've gotten my point across, and I'm pretty accomplished with that," she said. "But I don't feel like a hero or brave."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-lk-bayli-silberstein-gay-straight-20130421,0,3415916.story
