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Day of Silence

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For other uses, see Silence Day (disambiguation).
A Day of Silence logo

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 2012 Day of Silence was April 20. The 2010 Day of Silence was held on April 16; in 2011 it was on April 15.[1]

Organization

The Day of Silence is organized as a grassroots project by the GLSEN. 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]

History

Created by then-student Maria Pulzetti, the first event was organized by students at the University of Virginia in 1996.[3] Pulzetti explained: "I wanted to do something for BGLAD week that would impact many people at the school and that would be very visible...I knew that if we held panel discussions and events like that, the only people who would come would be the people who already were fairly aware."[4]

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 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 classmate Brandon McInerney.[5]

Day of Truth

In 2005, the Alliance Defense Fund, a American conservative Christian group began sponsoring a yearly counter-protest called the Day of Truth.[6] "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.[7] The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a civil rights and hate group monitoring organization,[8] described Focus on the Family as one of a "dozen major groups [which] help drive the religious right's anti-gay crusade".[9] Other socially conservative organizations - some of them labelled anti-gay hate groups by the SPLC, 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 encouraging parents to keep their kids home if their school was observing it.[10][11] In 2009, Judith Reisman compared youth involvement in GLSEN with the Hitler Youth,[12] to which GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard commented, "We can only hope this is some sort of sick April Fool's joke."[13] ADF announced that beginning in 2009, it had passed on its leadership role in the Day of Truth to an ex-gay organization, Exodus International,[14] who has prepared the resources for the event.[15]

In April 2010, in opposition to the Day of Silence, several students in Laingsburg High School in Laingsburg, Michigan wore t-shirts stating "Straight Pride" on the front side and bore a reference to Leviticus 20:13 on the back. Some purport that the Bible verse refers to homosexual behavior as an abomination and prescribes death as the penalty for it. In Religion Dispatches magazine, Candace Chellew-Hodge argues that the six or so verses that are often cited to condemn LGBT people are referring instead to "abusive sex." She states that the Bible has no condemnation for "loving, committed, gay and lesbian relationships" and that Jesus was silent on the subject.[16] The protest was organized by a Facebook group, also took place in the St. Johns and Bath school districts.[17]

In 2010, CNN reported that Exodus International, an ex-gay Christian group would no longer run Day of Truth as the organization had done since 2009.[18] President Alan Chambers stated that recent attention to bullying " ... helped us realize that we need to equip kids to live out biblical tolerance and grace while treating their neighbors as they'd like to be treated, whether they agree with them or not."[19] In 2011, Focus on the Family acquired the “Day of Truth” event and renamed it into the “Day of Dialogue” with the goal of "encouraging honest and respectful conversation among students about God’s design for sexuality."[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ Day of Silence Homepage
  2. ^ Day of Silence: Frequently Asked Questions
  3. ^ Riley, John (2008-04-24). "Day of Silence takes on a political tone". Medill Reports.
  4. ^ Ashenfelter, Morgan (2010-04-14). "Day of Silence Fights School Bullying". The Nation.
  5. ^ 12th Annual National Day of Silence Honors the Memory of Slain Lawrence King
  6. ^ "Day of Silence". Snopes.com. 2008-03-20. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
  7. ^ Swanson, Perry (2008-04-24). "Christians Plan a 'Day of Truth'". The Gazette. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  8. ^ "Southern Poverty Law Center: LGBT Rights".
  9. ^ "A Dozen Major Groups Help Drive the Religious Right's Anti-Gay Crusade".. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  10. ^ Birkey, Andy (2008-04-24). "2008 Day of Silence Honors Slain Gay Student". Minnesota Independent. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  11. ^ Thompson, Lynn (2008-04-26). "Mount Si's Gay-Rights Day of Silence is Far From Quiet". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  12. ^ Judith Reisman (1 April 2009). "GLSEN and the Hitler Youth". WorldNetDaily. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  13. ^ "World Net Daily Columnist Compares GLSEN, Day of Silence Participants to Hitler Youth". GLSEN. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  14. ^ Hostile Questions : Day of Truth
  15. ^ Homosexuality FAQ Sheet, Day of Truth website
  16. ^ Religion Dispatches magazine, Candace Chellew-Hodge
  17. ^ Todd A. Heywood (2010-04-26). "Rural high school students create 'straight pride' stir". Michigan Messenger.
  18. ^ : Day of Truth Support Pulled
  19. ^ "Christian Group Pull Support for Event Challenging Homosexuality". CNN.
  20. ^ Focus on the Family, "Day of Dialogue History," http://www.dayofdialogue.com/2011/02/03/history-2/ (accessed April 2, 2012)
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