| |
|
Walking down the hallways of Lowell High School today, it wasn't any quieter
than any other day. However, once in a while, I would come upon another fellow
ally wearing their "Gay? Fine by me." T-shirts. We smile and nod, but
keep our voices silent. Why not say "Hi!"? I'll tell you why. Today
was the National Day of Silence.
"The National day of What?" you ask?
Okay, well gather around children and let me tell you.
April is National Gay Pride Month, and every year since 1996, on a
Wednesday, there is a nationwide Day of Silence. It is a student-led project
where students, ranging from elementary to college, and teachers who are a part
of, or support, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning
community participate in this day by remaining silent. The purpose of our
silence is to protest the discrimination and harassment faced by the gay
community and their allies, caused by homophobia. It has become the largest
student-led action towards creating a safer environment at schools for all,
regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
At Lowell, we only remained silent during school hours. After school we
broke our silence together at a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) meeting to reflect
upon the day. Most teachers at Lowell who participated posted signs in their
classrooms that said, "Although I may not be silent, I support the Day of
Silence." Several teachers attempted to teach class without talking.
Students who participated or supported this event wore a pin, tag, or sticker
that stated their reason for being silent. The tag I wore this year said,
"Please understand my reasons of not speaking today. I support lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. People who are silent today believe that
laws and attitudes should be inclusive of all sexual orientations. The Day of
Silence is to draw attention to those who have been silenced by hatred,
oppression, and prejudice. Think about the voices you are not hearing. What can
you do to end the silence?"
This year, Lowell's GSA had arranged to and notified people to wear their
"Gay? Fine by me." T-shirts on Wednesday, hoping to raise greater
awareness. I was pleased to see so many people sporting their "Gay? Fine by
me." T-shirts, and many others with "Day of Silence" pins. During
the day I was glad to see many people asking about the day and what was going
on. Of course I couldn't answer them verbally, so instead I handed them one of
the many tags I was carrying with me. I had a field trip today to the Annual
Hoover Orchestra festival and it was awesome to see many middle schoolers were
also participating. The orchestra director at Hoover even made an announcement
about why some of his students wouldn't be speaking that day.
The Day of Silence is a great way to turn the silence that is forced upon
the gay community into a tool to fight homophobia. There were about 50-100
participants at Lowell this year. Everywhere I looked, I could see at least one
participant or supporter. However, we hope that next year even more will join us
in trying to end the silence. I'd like to see it quiet enough to draw the
attention of those who have never witnessed this event. It would be awesome to
walk down the halls next time and hear only the voices of the teachers who need
to teach.
For more information about the Day of Silence please go to
http://www.dayofsilence.org
(BTW: due to special circumstances, next year's Day of Silence is on a
Tuesday. Weird... I know.)
|
|
