What is the Day of Silence?

Question: What is the Day of Silence?

The Day of Silence is a national day of activism for LGBT rights. Students in middle school, high school and college take a one-day vow of silence to bring attention to the name-calling, bullying and harassment experienced by LGBT youth. The 2008 Day of Silence will be held in memory of Lawrence King on April 25th.

Answer: The Day of Silence was started in 1996 by students at the University of Virginia. More than 150 students participated and in 1997, organizers took the movement national. More than 100 schools participated. Since 2001 Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network has become the official organizational sponsor for the event. Hundreds of thousands of students and teachers now take part in the event. They will be silent for all or part of the day. To bring awareness to why they are being silent, people will hand out the following message. (From the GLSEN website:)

Silent for Lawrence King:

"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 name-calling, bullying and harassment. This year’s DOS is held in memory of Lawrence King, a 15 year-old student who was killed in school because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today."

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