HOMOSEXUALITY & BISEXUALITY

THE NATIONAL DAY OF SILENCE

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Quotations from those who took part in the Day of Silence:

Overview:

On 2002-APR-10, groups and individuals working towards equal rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people will hold a "National Day of Silence." It is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), in collaboration with the United States Student Association. _1,2 GLSEN promotes the creation of "safe schools for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people." Some gays, lesbians, bisexuals, heterosexuals, and transexuals will not speaking for most of the day. Instead, they will hand out "speaking cards" which say:

"Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What are you going to do to end the silence?"

Most of the participants are students at middle schools, high schools and colleges. Later in the day, they will attend "Break the Silence" events in which they will celebrate their accomplishments during the day.

Why silence?

One participant justified the silence approach by saying: "Silence sometimes speaks louder than words. Being silent not only allows you to feel how someone who is oppressed feels, but it also allows others to see what they are missing when they oppress others so that they cannot speak out. I decided to participate because it was an ingenious alternative to noisy rallies which seem to anger people, distracting from the overall meaning of the demonstration."

History:

In 1996, Maria Pulzette, then an 18 year old student at the University of Virginia wrote an essay about nonviolent protesting and grassroots organizing. This caused her to conceive of what she called the Day of Silence. Over 150 students participated. Its success motivated Maria to expand the Day of Silence across the U.S. It was renamed the National Day of Silence in 1997 and was celebrated at nearly 100 colleges and universities. In 1998, high school students joined in, raising the number of schools participating to over 200. In 2001, GLSEN became the official sponsor. The Project has an organizing manual to help students organize their local Day. ₃ They also have an enormous selection of resources, ranging from speaking cards and flyers, to T-shirts and sample letters to school administrators, businesses, school clubs, and the media. ₄

Conservative Christian reaction:

On 2002-APR-4, the leading Fundamentalist Christian group, Focus on the Family, posted a report on the National Day of Silence. ₅ They assign responsibility for the project to "homosexual activists," even though heterosexuals, gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons participate in large numbers.

Focus quoted Peter LaBarbera, of the Culture and Family Institute, who ridiculed the "Day of Silence" as a misnomer. He said: "It's interesting that they're not even keeping quiet for a whole day, because a lot of the students are having protests and rallies at the end of their supposed Day of Silence." He apparently did not realize that the Break the Silence events are an integral part of the Day.

To counter the National Day of Silence, Mission America is sponsoring the "Truth without Interruption Day" (TWID) counter-event, also on APR-10. Mission America is a Fundamentalist Christian group founded by Linda Harvey. ₆ She feels that "Truth is critical to a dying patient and America is gravely ill." Their web site opposes equal rights for homosexuals, Goddess worship, postmodernism, inclusive sex education, feminist theology, and Witchcraft (which she equates to Satanism)

She writes that "Participants [in the Day of Silence] will hand out material promoting homosexuality, bisexuality and cross-dressing." Actually, participants will promote equal rights for homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgendered persons. She confuses transvestites (cross dressers) with Transgendered individuals. .
 

Mission America provides a list of talking points for TWID:

Mission America doesn't seem to be aware that sexually transmitted diseases among lesbians is much lower than STDs among either heterosexuals or homosexuals.

Their postal address is Truth Without Interruption Day, PO Box 21836, Columbus, OH 43221. Their motto is "Think outside the Triangle." The pink triangle is a symbol that is commonly used by gays and lesbians. It is based on the identification symbol that gays were forced to wear during the Nazi holocaust.

They sell low-cost T-shirts:

They also provide a sample news release, including exact statements for the local coordinator to say to the media. ₈

References:

1. "Day of silence project," has a web site at: http://www.dayofsilence.org/
2. The United States Student Association has a web site at: http://www.usstudents.org/
3. The "Day of Silence project Organizing Manual" can be downloaded from http://www.dayofsilence.org/downloads You need software to read this file. It can be obtained free from:
4. Day of Silence resources are listed at: http://www.dayofsilence.org/oresources.html
5. Bob Kellog, "Homosexual 'Day of Silence' prompts response," Focus on the Family, at: http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/
6. Mission America has a web site at: http://missionamerica.com
7. "Truth without Interruption Day -- April 10," at: http://missionamerica.com/twid.htm
8. The TWID "Sample News Release," is at: http://missionamerica.com/twid_news.htm

Copyright © 2002 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2002-APR-7
Latest update: 2002-APR-7
Author: B.A. Robinson