Day of Silence: Good or Bad?

April 15th marked the 15th anniversary of the Day of Silence. The Day of Silence, so called that because those who participate in it take a vow of silence for a day, is to raise awareness of LGBT bullying. The Day of Silence got its start in 1996 at the University of Virginia. Over 150 students participated, and the creators decided to go public with their campaign. In 2001, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) became the official sponsor of the Day of Silence. With the help of the GLSEN, this demonstration has been allowed to grow by leaps and bounds. GLSEN provides team organizers, volunteers, and different types of support to local organizers in the hope that the quest to stop LGBT bullying will grow and gain even more support. It seems to be working, if this year's participation in the Day of Silence can be used as a tool of measurement. The number of participants has grown from 150 in 1996 to hundreds of  thousands of people all over the world. Not being able to talk, many participants took to Twitter in an effort to portray their thoughts and feelings about the Day of Silence and the reactions they received. A brief history about the Day of Silence and how it has grown can be found here.

To try to put a stop to the Day of Silence, some schools and school districts have tried to limit the rights of students participating in the Day of Silence, or make the national event illegal to participate in all together while on school grounds. Lambda Legal has published a brief answering questions about the legality of participating in the Day of Silence. For the most part, schools can't do a damn thing to stop those who wish to participate in it, because refusing to speak is not technically disrupting a classroom. Despite this, 30 students were sent to an administrator's office and asked to leave campus in one school district. The prompt shown on the right is a card many participants of the Day of Silence have carried around to explain the reason for their silence. It carries a dual purpose: to explain why this person has chosen to remain silent and extend awareness of LGBT bullying.

Per a recent survey done by the National Center of Transgender Equality, a shocking 31 percent of transgender or gender non-conforming students reported abuse, 5 percent reported physical assault, and 3 percent reported sexual assault by their teachers or staff at their respective schools. Teachers and staff, not fellow students. In another survey done, summarized here, 84.6 percent of all LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 40.1 percent reported being physically harassed, and 18.8 percent reported being physically assaulted. 63.7 percent reported being verbally harassed, 27.2 reported being physically harassed, and 12.5 percent reported being physically assaulted because of their possible transgendered nature. 61.1 percent of all LGBT students reported feeling unsafe in their school, and 39.9 percent of all possible transgender students reported feeling unsafe as well.

 Some have spoken out against the day of silence. Organizations such as The American Family Association, The Liberty Council, and Focus on the Family have come out in open opposition to the Day of Silence being allowed in schools. Focus on the Family has even organized a rival event dubbed the "Day of Dialogue," which encourages students to come t school ready to talk about why being gay is wrong, even going so far as to draw of prompts for students to read from. The Family Research Council came out with the opinion that many gay teens are led to suicide because they know subconsciously that the lifestyle they "choose" to lead is abnormal. The American Family Association places some of the blame for gay teen suicides of adults who "pressure" students to come out before they understand what they are doing. Regardless of whether or not being gay is morally sound, no one should be bullied.

Bullying in any form should be a punishable crime. As a victim of bullying, I can personally attest to the damaging effects it has on people, especially those in elementary and junior high. I can't even begin to count the many times I've seen things in the news about a 13-year-old killing himself or herself because of bullying. Some say that children killing themselves because of being bullied just means they had weak characters, and were looking for an excuse to kill themselves. I say shut the fuck up. When you're being constantly bullied, day in and day out, you don't think it's ever going to end. You think it will go on forever and ever, or until you can put a stop to it by putting a bullet into your brain, slitting your wrists, overdosing on pills, or killing the ones that bully you. I'm not saying that everyone whose ever been bullied feels this way, but don't write off bullying as a trivial matter. Bullying is a serious issue.

Having given my opinion on bullying, let me ask this question: is the Day of Silence really achieving what everyone wants it to? I totally understand the unifying act of remaining silence to raise awareness, but is remaining silent raising awareness for anything? More often than not, students don't notice or don't care that their peers are remaining silent for a day. Some people are under the impression that the Day of Silence is to promote Gay Rights, not stop LGBT bullying. A friend of mine has remarked on several occasions that the premise of the Day of Silence is stupid. "If I ever die because I'm gay," he said, "I want there to be a Day of Screaming. I want EVERYONE to know that I died because I'm gay and people can't accept me for who I am." I'm inclined to believe him, but I'm torn between his belief and the belief that the Day of Silence is doing good. What do you think? I've given you the facts and you've had a chance to think about it. Is the Day of Silence effective? Is the message getting through?