The Day of Silence is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) annual day of action to protest the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and their supporters. Students take a day-long vow of silence to symbolically represent the silencing of LGBT students and their supporters.
The Day of Silence has been held each year in April since 1996. The 2009 Day of Silence was held on April 17.[1]
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Organization
The Day of Silence is organized as a grassroots project by the GLSEN in collaboration with the United States Student Association. Students are encouraged to obtain permission from their school before organizing the event.
GLSEN states that hundreds of thousands of students at more than 8,000 schools participated in the 2008 Day of Silence.[2]
Events
The event takes place at college, high school, and middle school campuses. In some cases there are elementary school participants. On the appointed day, students maintain verbal silence either for the entire day or a portion of the day, such as during the lunch break.
During their period of silence, participating students may hand out printed cards explaining the nature of their protest. This may be supplemented by additional texts or images.
Some school organizers also create or purchase pins or stickers to put on lockers and t-shirts. Others dress in all black, with rainbow ribbons or gags to emphasize the cause and their presence. Also if allowed, special announcements during the day allow the event to be recognized by the school.
Ideally, the silence ends with a "breaking the silence" event in which students participate in activism and education.
Message
The 2010 Day of Silence will be held on Friday, April 16th.
The national focus of the Day of Silence is specific to ending bullying and harassment of students, particularly physical violence and verbal threats.
As with most political actions, there is passionate ongoing debate as to the specific strategies and goals. Organizers encourage Day of Silence participants to use the national template, but do support variation among participating groups. While some organizers focus the mission statement of their Day of Silence to ending institutionalized discrimination, others decide to make their message more encompassing. The Gay-Straight Alliance of Baldwinsville Central School in Baldwinsville, New York and Winston Churchill High School of Potomac, Maryland, for example, have made their mission statements for the Day of Silence "To send the message that hate is not tolerated" which they consider a more personal and less politically focused sentiment. Other groups focus on the day as an opportunity for the participating students to strengthen their own personal awareness of discrimination and increase their solidarity with the LGBT community.
The April 25, 2008 "speaking cards" read:
"Silent for Lawrence King: Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment. This year’s DOS is held in memory of Lawrence King, a 15 year-old student who was killed in school because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What are you going to do to end the silence?"[3]
The April 17, 2009 "speaking cards" read:
"Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay,bisexual ,and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT bullying, name-calling and harassment. I believe that ending the silence is the first step towards building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices.think about the voices you are not hearing today.[4]
History
Created by then-student Maria Pulzetti, the first event was organized by students at the University of Virginia in 1996.
The following year Pulzetti and then 19-year-old Jesse Gilliam developed the project to be used in schools nationally. It was renamed the National Day of Silence and nearly 100 colleges and universities participated. Beginning in 1998 the day was promoted by the Day of Silence Project with double the participation of the previous year.
In 2000 Gilliam, Chloe Palenchar, and GLSEN National Student Organizer Chris Tuttle developed the proposal for the day to become an official project of GLSEN. GLSEN developed its first-ever "student leadership team" as part of the Day of Silence.
In recent years, the Day of Silence has been reported as "the largest one-day student-led grassroots action on LGBT rights in American history."[2]
In 2008, the Day of Silence was held in memory of Lawrence King, an eighth grader from E.O. Green Middle School who was shot by fellow classmate Brandon McInerney.[3]
Opposition
In 2005, the Alliance Defense Fund began sponsoring a yearly counter-protest called the Day of Truth[5]. "Events like these actually end up promoting homosexuality in public schools, and that actually creates a hostile climate for students of faith," said Candi Cushman, an education analyst for Focus on the Family. [6] It encourages students to share with classmates their message, that neither side should be silenced. A card carried by participants in the Day of Truth reads, "true tolerance means that people with differing -- even opposing -- viewpoints can freely exchange ideas and respectfully listen to each other. It's time for an honest conversation about homosexuality. There's freedom to change if you want to. Let's talk."[6]
Other organizations, including the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Mission America, Traditional Values Coalition, Americans for Truth, and Liberty Counsel, opposed the Day of Silence in 2008 by forming a coalition urging parents to keep their kids home on the DOS if students at their school were observing it.[7] The Rev. Ken Hutcherson, the principal supporter of those who skipped school, said, "We want education, not indoctrination." [8]
See also
- Day of Truth annual counter protest
- NOH8 Campaign
- Student voice
- Think Before You Speak (campaign)
- Transgender Day of Remembrance
- Youth activism
- Youth/adult partnerships
- Youth empowerment
- Youth voice
References
- ^ Day of Silence Homepage
- ^ a b Day of Silence: Frequently Asked Questions
- ^ a b 12th Annual National Day of Silence Honors the Memory of Slain Lawrence King
- ^ Day of Silence 2009 Speaking Card
- ^ "Day of Silence". Snopes.com. 2008-03-20. http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/silence.asp. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
- ^ a b Swanson, Perry (2008-04-24). "Christians Plan a 'Day of Truth'". The Gazette. http://www.gazette.com/articles/plan_35647___article.html/truth_christians.html. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ Birkey, Andy (2008-04-24). "2008 Day of Silence Honors Slain Gay Student". Minnesota Monitor. http://www.minnesotamonitor.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=EDE6D8E0EDED3514A0109001AAF0192F?diaryId=3801. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ Thompson, Lynn (2008-04-26). "Mount Si's Gay-Rights Day of Silence is Far From Quiet". The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/eastsidenews/2004374870_dayofsilence26e.html. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
External links
- Day of Silence: Official Website (relaunched with new design in 2007)
- GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
- United States Students Association: Project Partner
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