Day of Silence to raise awareness about anti-LGBT bullying at thousands of schools

More than 20,000 students are registered and hundreds of thousands more will participate at middle schools, high schools and colleges from every state in the country in GLSEN’s National Day of Silence on Friday April 15th by taking some form of a vow of silence to raise awareness about anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment. Students typically participate by remaining silent throughout the school day, unless asked to speak in class. The Day of Silence often ends with a Breaking the Silence event. Participating students are available for interviews at schools around the country. To bring attention to this problem and explain their participation in the Day of Silence, students often hand out speaking cards found on DayofSilence.org that 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 toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today.