An 11-year-old Muslim girl who wrote to complain that the use of "other" on school forms alongside Protestant and Catholic "isn't nice" is "over-the-moon" with the support she has received.
Yara, from Derry, wrote to the North West Migrants Forum to ask for help to "do something to stop this".
Lilian Seenoi-Barr, founder and director of the migrants forum in Derry, told Belfast Live the practice of "othering" people from minority communities is "taking us back, rather than moving us forward".
Read more: Girl says 'it's not nice' to be called an 'other' in the Northern Ireland school system
In her hand written letter, Yara said: "I am writing to complain about signing up for the schools. You see, I found it hard to sign up to some schools because of the criteria.
"As I'm sure you know, it's set into Catholic, Protestant and 'other'."
She added: "I refuse to be called other, it isn't nice."
The letter was published by the North West Migrants Forum, who wrote to the leaders of Northern Ireland's five main political parties.
Ms Seenoi-Barr, speaking to Belfast Live on Tuesday, said: "She is 11 years old and throughout primary school, she was taught about diversity because she has been in an integrated school, and that everyone is equal.
"She got a massive shock when she went to apply for secondary school and learned that for as someone from a religious, minoritized background, she was considered 'the other'.
"And Yara was not just shocked - she was physically upset that her identity and that of her parents was not recognised.
"So she decided that she wanted to do something about it. And this is what prompted her to write to me directly."
She continued: "And I am very proud that she decided to speak up, because this just shows the next generation of Irish children and not going to be people who are just sitting back and waiting for things to happen. They want to take action to tackle any injustice that they see."
Ms Seenoi-Barr said Yara is "over the moon" with the responses so far.
"I have been in touch with Yara," she said. "I spoke to her directly after her letter, also once we published her letter, and the overwhelming support that her letter has received. I have spoken to her and she's over the moon."
She added: "And I think for me, it means so much to me that I'm in a position where I can give this young people a voice, and I can amplify their voices."
Ms Seenoi-Barr, who also sits on Derry and Strabane council for the SDLP, continued: "When Northern Ireland is painted as belonging to two communities it looks like the 'other' is discounted as an afterthought.
"And let's be clear, we are no longer a country of two communities. 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, there is so much diversity of thought and identity in the north of Ireland.
"And this terminology is very alienating, and it impacts on the sense of belonging for so many people who are here - and not just those who have come but those who are born in this country."
She added: "Most of the second generation of young people from minoritized communities, young people of traditional cultures here, no longer want to be identified in the binary of Catholic or Protestants.
"There's so many people who now see this as taking us back, rather than moving our country forward. So we absolutely need to move away from sectarian headcounts altogether. And instead of 'othering' people, we can ask a clear question, what is your ethnicity? Or what is your religion? What is holding us back from embracing difference? Or embracing the fact that Northern Ireland is moving forward that we are a more globalised society now. And it's a beautiful thing."
Yara's letter was read and responded to online by, among others, Sinn Fein leader Michelle O'Neill and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood.
Both politicians promised to follow-up on her concerns.
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