Silence equals death. It doesn't matter who you are, or what you are, but if you don't tell your story, you won't be heard, and people will assume you don't exist, and that you can be discounted. That's why telling someone to shut up is rude- because you are trying to rob them of their power to make things right. Words are power, that's why we can't let people try to tell us we can't speak or that our voices aren't important or that we don't matter. If you listen to that person, you are right, and you are dead.