The National Day of Silence was launched 27 years ago in Virginia as a student-led event to raise awareness of treatment of LGBTQ+ students on school campuses and was observed at Windham High School on April 26.
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| The National Day of Silence event to raise awareness of the treatment of LGBTQ+ students on school campuses was observed at Windham High School on April 26. COURTESY PHOTO |
Organizers say that the Day of Silence gives hundreds of thousands of students in over 9,000 schools across the country an opportunity to stand together and speak out against the endemic name-calling, bullying and harassment faced by LGBTQ+ students every day.
Windham High School’s observance of the Day of Silence was hosted by the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance and participants chose not to speak during the day or acting as a speaking ally to symbolize what it’s like to be unheard from in their surroundings.
Participating students acknowledged that those bullied have been made fun of because of their appearance and identification and the Day of Silence strives to reduce and acknowledge the resentment among peers.
Windham GSA member Victoria Lin, as senior, has been a part of this club for two years.
“I originally joined to find a community and to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community from surrounding people,” said Lin, who chose to appear as a non-speaker throughout the day.
This GSA club acts like a safe place for many students that they may not have in other activities. It’s used as a place to speak freely in possibilities of feeling less alone, heard, and related. The Day of Silence does include students who are not in the club, promoting their welcomeness.
“Being an active attending member is very rewarding. Above the event planning and fundraising, our first priority is to give members a community. We usually start meetings with social time. Sometimes we do ‘roses and thorns’ where we take turns sharing something good that's happened to us (rose) and something not so good (thorn),” said Lin.
A healthy, common way to tackle obstacles indicates the importance of communication, Lin said. A person trying to comfortably put a change in the way identities have transformed over the years can be difficult for others to grasp and this can lead to misunderstandings for all communities.
“Past and present, people have kept their queer identities silent because of harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. The existence of queers doesn't hurt anyone, I have a feeling whoever believes otherwise hasn't met many queer people. We still have a long way to go, and we can't do anything about it until we break the silence,” said Lin.
Freshman Elise Biggs has been a passionate member of the GSA club in Windham for three years and plans to stay in for the rest of her high school career.
“It’s a place where you can go and if you're having a bad day and want to make it better. Even if you have homework that you don’t understand, the upperclassmen or advisors will help. Everyone knows everyone, it’s a place where you can be yourself if you can’t in other aspects of your life. If you can, it's still a place to make friends who express themselves similarly, it’s welcoming for all,” said Biggs, a speaking supporter.
Students were not pressured into attending this event and it was all by invitation, leading to their own decision making. Both speaking and non-speaking supporters received a pin indicating their role. Whether involved or uninvolved, the hopes were that participants would not stand out in a bad way.
Over decades, schools such as Windham High School have attempted to teach students what genuine equality is, while being safe, respectful, and responsible for their actions. At the end of the day, it comes down to us all being human and treating others the way we all want to be treated, according to Day of Silence participants. <
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