Day Of Silence

Day of Silent posters explaing stats about LGBTQ issues. Photo by Allana Erickson

Many people get involved with the community in different ways. Some donate money to local charities; others volunteer their time helping children and walk for the cure.  But others go silent.

On Friday, April 16 numerous student, activist and community leaders participated in the Day of Silent event to take on issue of gay rights in a national generate LGBT movement.  The day brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. At the University of Arizona members of LGBTQ and Wingspan (a non-profit organization that serves Tucson’s homosexual community) had a silent protest out on the UA mall.

They had posters explain the definition words like queer, gay, and homosexual . In addition, they had posters explain the statistics about suicide rates in the gay community and safety those LGBT students feel at school.

Sign with the definition of Queer. Photo by Allana Erickson

Student gave out card to people about why they were remaining silent. The card reads:

“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 towards building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today.”

The Day of Silence is sponsored by GLSEN as a grassroots campaign and asks participants to be silent for an entire day.  Almost 100 different colleges participate in the event.

Silent voices board at the Day of Silence event. Photo by Allana Erickson

At 5pm that Friday, students broke their silence by screaming at the mall and making as much noise as they could at UA Mall.