After speaking out, equal rights activists will go silent Friday to bring attention to the bullying and discrimination that occurs in schools across the country.
Friday marks the 16th annual Day of Silence, a national event of solidarity that aims to create a safer school environment without any regard to sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
“I feel that the Day of Silence is essential to promote awareness about those who are bullied for being LGBT,” openly gay UH creative writing student Jonathan Sanford said. “Ironically, by silencing our voices, we give a voice to those who still remain voiceless.”
The first Day of Silence was held in 1996 at the University of Virginia. By 2008, more than 8,000 middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities participated. Other countries including Russia and Singapore also joined in the Day of Silence.
Since 2010 the UH LGBT Resource Center’s mission has been to establish inclusion and acceptance for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, staff and faculty members.
Information on the center’s website states that the “Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and discrimination that occurs in schools. Students observe the day in silence to echo the silence that LGBT and ally students face every day.”
“On Friday, the LGBT Resource Center will be hosting zones around campus for those who participate in the Day of Silence,” Director of the UH LGBT Resource Center Lorraine Schroeder said. “Those who participate will be given a card explaining their silence for the day. The silence on campus will then break at the end of day and participants will share their experience with others.”
At 11:30 a.m. today UH’s all-inclusive women’s social sorority Gamma Rho Lambda will hold a flash mob in front of the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library in honor of Day of Silence. The sorority will also have a table at the University Center from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. with giveaways coinciding with the daylong event.
“We will silently freeze while holding signs in support of the Day of Silence and equality,” reads the sorority’s website. “Our silence will represent the voices that are no longer heard because of harassment and bullying.”
After the Day of Silence, “Breaking the Silence” will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the E.E. Oberholtzer Hall.
“Breaking the Silence is meant to bring students from around Houston together to connect and share their experiences the evening of the day,” said Alex Barksdale, Houston Regional intern for the Texas Gay-Straight Alliance and representative for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. “What we have envisioned includes student and adult ally speakers, small music or theater performances and sharing of resources from different community organizations. We will reach out to students from around Houston and are expecting around 50-70 students.”
For more information, visit www.dayofsilence.org.