day of silence

Day of Silence
www.dayofsilence.org

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 fi rst 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?

Okay, so I really can't be silent. It just isn't my style. But this is an incredible movement that has gained so much traction over the years, and I had to blog about it. Don't be about it, blog about it. So, that's what I'm doing.

This movement started 13 years ago at the University of Virginia. I participated in this every year (except one) throughout high school and college. It was an incredible experience, each time, with new revelations about human nature everywhere. In a way, I came of age with this movement and revisited it every year from a changed perspective. Some years, I was actively organizing, designing t-shirts at school for the day, bugging my friends to join in. Others, I almost forgot about the day and participated only at the last-minute. Sometimes, I was energized and outspoken the next day and others, I was disillusioned in the power of my own words, like the day's title suggests. It's interesting to reminisce about the levels of my own involvement and see how that aligned with my attitudes toward activism, the gay community, and the movement itself at various times.

Every year, though, the youngin' bigots would wear ignorant shirts that said "Straight Pride Day," as a counter-protest. It's unfortunate that those kids didn't understand that the Day of Silence wasn't about pride. Rather, it was a visual reflection of the shame that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students feel. The only pride I felt was when I changed someone's mind, or saw my friends participating in solidarity.

This year, I'm thinking about the many relationships I have that were created or strengthened through sharing in the Day of Silence experience. I think back and see all of the faces of my friends, strangers or acquaintances who I grew closer to on those days. I don't really remember the ones who harassed us. Every year, record amounts of students participate, and every year, relationships through activism are built. Little networks of little people in schools everywhere get stronger because of days like today. Friendships get stronger because of days like today. Ignorance gets more difficult to sustain because of days like today.

Our movement grows because of days like today.