As a former Glen Head resident, I tried to attend the rally in Sea Cliff on Sept. 29. Although I couldn't get there, just knowing it occurred has given me a peace that had been missing since national media coverage sent shock waves beyond the Village borders. In times like these, silence is not neutral.

Speaking on behalf of almost every sexual minority woman I know, we don't like to ask for help; we value our privacy and we focus on our abilities, not our liabilities or disabilities. This community action was appreciated in ways that only others who have experienced oppression will understand. Oppression may sound like an extreme choice of language, but it can be as insidious as devaluing work because it's done by a woman, or being denied something you would be otherwise entitled to if you were a citizen, a heterosexual, a Caucasian, and so on; or it can be as irrational as our federal government having two sets of books for married couples - one for married not taxable, and one for married taxable.

I would like to acknowledge the Village of Sea Cliff for permitting this rally and its organizers for breaking the silence. It sent a powerful, visible message of solidarity that Sea Cliff is a unified and diverse multicultural community and that bias on its streets or against any of its citizens is not okay.

Diane Bruessow