On May 25, I received my diploma. For most students, graduation is a time to celebrate your achievements and reflect fondly on your experience; but for me, I walked across the stage at graduation feeling heartbroken with a dark cloud hanging over my time at Roncalli High School.

Above: Waving at the Indy Pride Parade, June 8, 2019. Dominic far left and Shelly Fitzgerald in rainbow skirt at near right.
I tell my story today because it needs to be heard and I can finally tell it. I want people to realize that like most high school students, I just wanted to be normal. I was supposed to be a senior in high school. I was supposed to be getting excited for college. I was supposed to focus o n my standardized tests. I was supposed to have fun with my friends at Friday night football games. Frankly, I was supposed to be preparing myself for future challenges in a school environment that fosters and appreciates the "change-maker" spirit. I tell my story because I know it represents countless students who were and are still being targeted for supporting LGBTQ+ causes like the one I stood up for. There are so many students who are silenced for speaking out against what has happened to them.
LGBTQ+ youth, please hear me when I say this: I believe in you and you have amazing people standing up for you every day. You will get through this. I promise.
To this day, Shelly's Voice Advocacy Group continues to live out its mission of advocating for a better, more inclusive Catholic community. I urge each one of you to stand with us by writing a letter to a church leader asking them to change the way in which they treat the LGBTQ+ community. Join us in making sure the Catholic Church understands that LGBTQ+ youth matter. Join us in erasing the prejudice that LGBTQ+ students have to experience in their schools.
Stand up and be a part of the change with us, unafraid.
Dominic Conover is a recent graduate of Roncalli High School in Indianapolis and an activist with Shelly's Voice, which serves to create greater understanding and acceptance for LGBTQ people in the Catholic Church.