|Students will take part in The Day of Silence, April 25|
Get ready for the campus to be a little quieter. On Friday, April 25, students at the University of North Dakota will join students across the nation in a Day of Silence to protest the discrimination, harassment and abuse --- in effect the silencing --- faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and their allies in schools.
The Day of Silence, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), will be held during school hours. The day will begin at 8:30 a.m. with members of the GLSEN Red River Valley chapter and others wishing to participate in the Day of Silence, meeting at the Soaring Eagle statue behind the Chester Fritz Library on the UND campus. Participants will be silent throughout the day, wearing stickers and passing out 'speaking cards' that read:
"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 in schools. 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?"
At 2 p.m. there will be a "Breaking the Silence" debriefing to be held in the Badlands Room, Memorial Union.
"The Day of Silence," according to local organizer, Cheryl Stolz, "is especially relevant to the nation's schools, including those schools within the community of Grand Forks, since 15-year-old Lawrence King was murdered at his Oxnard, Calif., school Feb. 12, 2008. This senseless killing was based on Lawrence's sexual orientation and gender expression." Ms. Stolz hopes that the event will work towards ending some of the silence and hatred students face.
GLSEN's 2003 National Climate Survey found that more than four out of five LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and 29 percent report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety. The Day of Silence is one way students and their allies are making anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and name-calling unacceptable in America's schools.
The Day of Silence, a project of GLSEN, is a nationwide, student-led event during which hundreds of high schools and colleges protest the oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. For more information contact local organizer Cheryl Stolz at (701) 330-5475 or firstname.lastname@example.org.
For more information and a complete collection of organizing materials, visit www.dayofsilence.org.
GLSEN, or the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on creating safe schools for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. Established nationally in 1995, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. For more information on our educator resources, public policy agenda, student organizing programs or development initiatives, visit www.glsen.org.