It's Day Of Silence, Kittens...

[Ressick]

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?

www.dayofsilence.org

[Enigmatic]

So it's the day of silence today...unfortunately we don't have this in Denmark, or at least there hasn't been any information about it here...which is too bad, coz I think that the whole world should be a part of it.

[urnofosiris]

Ressick, I have edited out the wednesday from the thread title, so as not confuse it with today's daily thread. If you want I can repost this there.

As it is, I cannot be silent, but I can stop to think and remember.

[BabyJune]

I organize the DoS at my school. The day isn't over yet, but our initial calculations tell us that about 175 students participated. That's about 75 more than last year. There will be an assembly in about 20 minutes and we have speakers from GLSEN ready to talk to students. I gotta run, but I just wanted to tell you guys. Believe it or not, I didn't hand out a single speaking card today. Why? Because everybody in school knew what was going on today, and 1 out of 9 students participated. We had a photographer from the local paper take photographs of a silent lunch that my friends and I held. Hopefully I'll be able to give you a link if there's an article tomorrow or the next day.
Ta,
BabyJune

[WiccanBex]

it we did this here... i would do it.

well... i would *try* to do it. i'm not very good with the whole silence thing...

[ninjitsugrrl]

we are doing this at my college too. everyone who participated is supposed to gather for a silent dinner tonight so we will see how many participated but we had a lot of interest so it should be a lot!

[Under Her Spell]

I never participate in silent protests, because I'm always worried no one would notice the difference.

[murph the smurf]

I had never heard of the Day of Silence before now but now that I know it exists I'll do my best to spread the word. Events like this need to be internationally recognised. It's good to hear that awareness of the day has grown since last year. I'm sorry I didn't learn about this sooner but I'll do what I can for the rest of the day.

Thanks for getting the word out Ressick

[tommo]

Unfortunately I haven't been able to be silent today, due to other things happening. But...thanks for reminding me.

[Morphine]

I failed the day of silence too, some duties require my being verbal throughout the day. But I did speak a little less, which is, for me... still a lot.

But thank you to all who have held the torch high and bright today. And a special thought to everyone for whom this day has been created.

[Krystin]

I have to admit that my university was participating in the Day of Silence also, but that I did not participate. This was due largely to the many meetings and end of the semester commitments that pressed upon me today.

My girlfriend refused to participate because we live in Atlanta, and the glbt community is huge and not at all silent here. Oh, well... politics/political action are just not her thing.

[Tiauna]

My University did this today. What's interesting is that a girl who I used to take Archery with just knew I was coming over to the table to talk to them, and she handed me the card and smiled and I smiled and then I walked off. I kind of thought I don't know if it's rude to talk to them, but they can't talk back, But anyway they've got the kick parties going on this week. Tonight they are showing the film: The Times of Harvey Milk
It's a documentary about the career and assisnation of Frisco's first elected gay mayor.
Thurday: Author Edmund White is coming
And next Tues they are having a PRIDE NIGHT! Dinner , Dancing, and Surprise Guests. Hmm I wonder who would be a surprise guest.
By the by in case anyone wonders I go to Chapman University. K lates and happy day o silence!

[Mally B]

i posted a little about the day of silence in the lesbian/gay etc issues post.

of course i did it, it was fun, a definite challenge. after school me and two of my friends went to this Youth Speak Out thing where kids talked about harrasment due to sexual orientation and the likes. it was pretty cool.

we also did this two years ago, my freshman year in highschool. and it was a lot easier then than it was today, presumably because freshman don't really need to speak quite as much as juniors, in high school at least. or thats what i think anyway.

it always reminds me of Hush, for some reason.

- Mally B

[isolde(d)]

I did this over at my school, and it went surprisingly well. I had some friends join me who I really didn't expect would. Almost everyone on campus was cool about it, except for a couple of people who were really assinine, but then again, they're the kind of people who are ALWAYS really assinine, about basically everything.

I love the idea of not speaking for an entire day. One, it gets people thinking when they realize that you're not saying anything to them, and two, it allows for more introspection. Instead of speaking the first thing on your mind, you get to think about every little thing you would have said, and how that would effect the person you'd be talking to. A day like National Day of Silence gives everyone involved a chance to reflect.

But damn it was hard to order lunch.

[fell]

This is a great way to raise awareness in public places like offices and campuses. Unfortunately, it's impossible for some people and requires a big commitment. For myself, I work at home and didn't need to go out, so it actually didn't feel like I was participating. What we need are lots more ways for people to participate in consciousness-raising protests and for supportive people to show solidarity.