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Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Apr 21, 2011
UW-Madison students marched silently from campus to the Capitol on April 15 to stage a rally denouncing anti-LGBT bullying in schools and universities. Students from other UW system schools and other technical and community colleges across the state joined the march and rally. – Photo: Callen Harty
Listen, organizers of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network urged on April 15.
Listen to the silence, which spoke volumes on the national Day of Silence observed on more than 7,500 school campuses.
“The Day of Silence is a symbolic representation of the silencing effect young people across the country experience every day because of anti-LGBT bullying,” said GLSEN executive director Eliza Byard, whose organization became the first DoS sponsor in 2001 and continues to assist thousands of students in organizing events.
“For far too long we, as a nation, have ignored the pervasive problem of anti-LGBT bullying,” Byard added. “While we at GLSEN are working to improve the situation in schools for LGBT youth and those perceived to be LGBT, students across the country are coming together on the Day of Silence to say it needs to get better now.”
The first Day of Silence took place at the University of Virginia in 1996, when students called attention to anti-LGBT bullying and harassment by taking a vow of silence.
DoS founder Maria Pulzetti was 18 when she organized the first nine-hour moratorium on speech as a non-violent, civil disobedience action.
Students still lead the organizing in the Day of Silence.
On April 15, an estimated 20,000 students at middle schools, high schools and college campuses continued the tradition of taking a vow of silence and distributing cards that read: “Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, 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.”
At some schools, many of which already host gay-straight alliances, students wore tape over their mouths and organized Breaking the Silence assemblies. One of the largest DoS events took place in Albany, N.Y., where hundreds of students gathered for a rally.
When the events were over, many students turnedto social networking tools – Facebook and Twitter, especially – to broadcast their accomplishments.
On the DoS Facebook page, Jeremy Behr said Eastern High School in Lansing, Mich., had about 200 students participate.
At his Bowling Green, Ohio, high school, a proud Trazel Sanders said, “Out of 980 students … 250 participated. … Enough said.”
Student Veronica Buresh posted, “Me and my friends stayed quiet for a long day. … My friends broke the silence halfway through the day, but I managed to stay quiet and I only said four words total by accident.”
The 2011 DoS took place near the end of a school year that began with a series of gay suicides – the unrelated deaths of young, gay men who complained of taunts and intimidation at their schools in California, New Jersey, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Indiana.
Earlier this spring, the White House convened a conference to tackle bullying in schools that included a number of LGBT activists, including GLSEN representatives, as well as LGBT teens and parents.
This spring also brought the introduction or re-introduction of several safe schools bills in Congress.
Most recently U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., introduced the House version of the Safe Schools Improvement Act, which would require schools to implement comprehensive anti-bullying policies that address harassment based on race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Bullying is not a harmless rite of passage for children,” said Sanchez, who has more than 70 co-sponsors for her bill.
