The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. That's a fancy way of saying it's our birthday, too. We'll be talking a lot this year about our past accomplishments and our vision for our future to our members and friends. In organizational years, 25 seems older, wiser and more informed. Because of our longevity, people will treat us with great respect for our experience. It is a pity, then, that our movement does not treat gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning youth leaders of that same age with that same respect. They, too, have accomplishments and experience. They, too, bring their energy and vision to our movement. The best of these youth leaders are challenging some of our movement's long-held ideas about sexual orientation and gender identity. And the reality is that many of these organizers are starting their work in their early teens. Youth does not equate to inexperience. In junior highs, high schools and colleges across the country, youth organizers are building unprecedented alliances with straight students. They form school and campus organizations, advocate for inclusive school curriculums, and demand school safety. They are anti-racist workers, welfare and immigrant organizers, state lobbyists, and candidates for public office. They stand at the frontlines of the gap between cultural changes and real civil rights. Young people continue to be the target of Right-wing organizing. Fifteen school-related bills moved through state legislatures in 1997. The highlight was Connecticut's enactment of legislation banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for students. It became the third state to do so, following Minnesota and Massachusetts. Three other favorable bills failed to become law. Importantly, eleven unfavorable measures were brought to the table but none became law. They dealt primarily with restrictions on school curriculum, such as teaching abstinence-only HIV prevention or forbidding the discussion of GLBT, and HIV/AIDS related materials altogether. Despite these successes, the Right's efforts to silence youth organizers are growing in city after city and state after state. It is timely then, that today's GLBT movement is being shaped and transformed by youth leadership. NGLTF has seen first hand the fruits of their labor. NGLTF has long been at the forefront of supporting campus and youth organizing. The Task Force launched its campus project in 1987 and our 1997 Creating Change conference served as the birthplace for the National Consortium of Directors of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resources in Higher Education. NGLTF's annual Youth Leadership Institute and youth and campus tracks at Creating Change have been home for some of the nation's best youth organizers. >From that vantage point, we've seen and experienced the age gap. Last summer, we had the idea that our reunion of Youth Leadership Institute graduates should be planned by youth for themselves. They planned a retreat at the historic Highlander Center, known for its long history and ties to the civil rights movement. They also planned the day long youth intensive at Creating Change, which brought youth from around the country together. Both of these events were wildly successful, due mostly in part to the fact that they were youth designed and youth lead. But that's not the moral to the story. At these two NGLTF events and in countless initiatives in state after state, the youth had no problem stepping up to the plate with all they had to offer. Rather the barrier they faced was adults refusing to step aside so that youth could lead. Some adults think they know what's best for young people. Some are waiting for youth to "pay their dues" before assuming a leadership role in our movement. And some are threatened by the new ideas and conventions that GLBT youth are bringing to the table. We adults are the ones who have a lot to learn. We don't have to wait to find out what the future brings. The future of our movement is with us today. As NGLTF moves into its 25th anniversary year, we do so with a rich history. But we also move forward with new vision. A vision, informed by youth, that all things are possible.