Love, Hope and Film – and a new contest!

Feb 14th, 2011 6:19 PM EST

Hello All,

Shea Dietz here.  I first want to welcome you to my new blog that is starting at MatthewsPlace.com called “Love, Hope, and Film”! It’s very exciting to have the pleasure of partnering with an organization like the Matthew Shepard Foundation that has a community of people that are extremely supportive and active within the LGBT community fighting for equality.

It’s all so surreal to think of how I got to this place at this time. If there was any “plan” of how things were supposed to go, then that plan is no longer valid. I realized that only this past week really. It was three days ago when one of my friends told me I was the biggest activist he knows. How did that happen? How did I, of all people, become an activist, let alone the biggest activist someone knows personally? If you look at my life only 6 months ago, you would’ve never labeled Shea Dietz as an activist. 6 months ago, I was a kid excited to begin his senior year of high school, experience the last few months with some of his greatest friends he’s ever had, and prepare himself for the future that would be college and film. My daily schedule probably looked something like this:

-       Wake up

-       School ‘til 2:45

-       Get home at 3:30

-       Xbox 360/PS3 time

-       Catch up on some TV shows

-       Maybe watch a Netflix movie with a friend

-       Homework if assigned (maybe)

-       Sleep at midnight or later

Pretty easy and lazy, right? I would always make sure I had time to be social with people as much as I could on the weekends. I would be with someone almost always. But all that seemed to change when I came out at the end of August 2010.

When I came out, I was looked at differently. I started being more aware of the discrimination I see on a daily basis. It wasn’t until I made myself a direct target for LGBT discrimination by saying I was a part of that group that I fully emotionally understood that I was not in a safe environment. I can walk down one hallway at my school and hear “faggot” at least three times and other nonsensical slander. I receive violent threats against myself and the LGBT community in general. I hear horror stories of other kids like myself that have walked the same halls and experienced hate just as bad, if not worse than myself. That scared me…but only for a short while.

One night, I was watching Glee with my mom. It was the episode that Kurt transferred to a new private school (much like my own) and he was told there was a zero tolerance bullying policy. I immediately thought in my mind, “Wait – doesn’t our school have that?” And we do. But then I asked the question, “Why is that not being enforced?” I started asking faculty members and close friends if they knew anything about this. What I found out was there almost a code of silence that was blanketed over the school for a number of reasons. Unfortunately, not one of those reasons was positive. Something lit inside me over those few days. Usually, that only happens when I’m in filmmaking-mode. Something was telling me to do something about this issue. So I decided to combine filmmaking and advocacy together. Breaking the Silence was born.

Now here I am today. I am speaking out about this issue to change high schools so kids don’t have to experience what I have. That’s why I’m making this documentary. That’s why I’ve become active in my community to advocate for LGBT youth. That’s why I’m here with the Matthew Shepard Foundation. I have a rare opportunity to really affect change. I’m embracing that opportunity everyway and everywhere possible.

Wow, I didn’t expect to write this much on my first entry. Oh! – One more thing! We are starting a competition today. The “Speak Up Speak Out” Competition. We want you to be a part of Breaking the Silence too! So we’re asking people to create their own image that they believe encompasses Breaking the Silence. Send us the image at breakingthesilencethefilm@gmail.com! On March 1^st, we will choose our favorite image that we will turn into a poster for the film! It will be featured on breakingthesilencethefilm.com, MatthewsPlace.com, and the Facebook page! Be creative! We want to see what you can come up with to help fight LGBT discrimination in high school! Submissions are due February 28^th.

Now, I wanted to leave you with the reason why I chose to call this blog “Love, Hope, and Film.” As I look back at the past 6 months of my life, I realized all I have is love, hope, and film. And you know what? That’s all I need.

Our Story Continues Another Day,

Shea Alexander Dietz