April 17, 2009

Day of Silence

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Filed Under: 04/--: Day of Silence, Events, Hate Crimes, Youth

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April 25, 2008

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Filed Under: 04/--: Day of Silence, Election 2008, Hillary Clinton, Media, Women

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April 24, 2008

Baldwin Resolution Honors National Day of Silence

From Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.):

April 23, 2008 — Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin today called on colleagues in the House to recognize this year’s National Day of Silence to be held on April 25th. The annual National Day of Silence is a day in which students take a vow of silence to bring attention to the anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) name-calling, bullying, and harassment faced by individuals in schools, including students, teachers, and other school staff. The Day of Silence is coordinated nationally by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). An estimated 500,000 students from nearly 5,000 junior and high schools in all 50 states and Puerto Rico have participated in the National Day of Silence in past years and more than 6,000 schools have registered this year.

In remarks on the House floor this morning, Congresswoman Baldwin told her colleagues, “This year’s event will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a California 8th-grader who was shot and killed Feb. 12 by a classmate because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. Larry’s death is an unnecessary reminder of what we already know: lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students continue to face pervasive harassment and victimization in schools. As students use their silence to demand schools are safe for all students, it is my hope that we in Congress will use our voices to ensure that it be so.

GLSEN reports startling statistics:

• More than 80 percent of LGBT students have been verbally harassed;

• Nearly 20 percent of LGBT students were physically assaulted by their peers at school because their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression;

• Almost 40 percent of LGBT students reported that faculty and staff never intervene when homophobic language is used in their presence;

• Nearly 30 percent of LGBT students reported missing at least one entire school day in the last month because they felt unsafe.

Reps. Baldwin (D-WI), Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Lois Capps (D-CA) have sponsored a resolution (H Con Res 328) supporting the goals and ideals of the National Day of Silence. Baldwin said Congressional support sends a strong signal that harassment and hate crimes will not be tolerated in our schools and in our communities.

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Filed Under: 04/--: Day of Silence, Education/Schools, Hate Crimes, Hate Speech, Press Releases, Tammy Baldwin, Youth

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April 22, 2008

“Day of Truth” Exposed!

Hat tip to Daniel Gonzales of Box Turtle Bulletin. He has created this wonderful video that lays bare the ugly truth behind the Day of Truth, the RRRW’s “answer” to the Day of Silence. It’s the day they push anti-gay propaganda on LGBT students, their allies, and everyone else. Fortunately the real truth is on our side, and here is just one piece of ammunition.

 

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", 04/--: Day of Silence, Bisexuality, Education/Schools, Hate Speech, Homophobia, LGBT Organizations, Radical Religious Right, United States, Videos, Youth

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April 18, 2008

Lance Bass Comes Out for Day of Silence.

No doubt by now most of you are aware that the Day of Silence is April 25th (and the “Day of (un)Truth” follows on the 28th). Lance Bass, formerly of *NSYNC, has contributed his time to this wonderful PSA for the DOS.

 

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Filed Under: 04/--: Day of Silence, Bisexuality, Celebrities, Education/Schools, Homophobia, LGBT Organizations, Transgender, United States, Videos, Youth

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April 7, 2008

Day of (un)Truth Coming to a School Near You.

As you may be aware, GLSEN’s Day of Silence is on Friday, April 25th. Since the bigots must fight any house of cards erected by the LGBT community with a bulldozer, Alliance Defense Fund will be holding their “Day of Truth” on Monday, April 28th. Needless to say they’ll be using their version of the truth.

They have prepared talking points so students faced with any “hostile questions” (read: logical questions anybody would ask bigots) can pawn off their “deeply held religious beliefs” as fact. There’s also a propaganda sheet that will ensure the bigots can recite by rote the 10 top reasons gay people deserve to be treated like crap. But thankfully Wayne Besen has ammunition. Watch and learn.

Now you’re armed and ready to fight the forces of evil. Go get ‘em!

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Filed Under: 04/--: Day of Silence, Alliance Defense Fund, Education/Schools, Homophobia, Radical Religious Right, United States, Videos, Youth

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March 8, 2008

Day of Silence 2008.

Day of Silence 2008 is scheduled for April 25th. This year it is being held in memory of Lawrence King, the 15-year-old Oxnard, CA boy who was killed for his sexual orientation and gender expression.

DAY OF SILENCE, April 25, 2008: This year’s Day of Silence will be held in memory of Lawrence King, who friends say was murdered in a California school February 12 because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. The event brings attention to anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and discrimination in schools. Students observe the day in silence to echo the silence LGBT and ally students face every day.

Remember, it’s essential that you sign up: During the Days of Action (Ally Week, Transgender Day of Remembrance, MLK Organizing Weekend, and the Day of Silence) we get many calls from the media asking how many students and schools are participating.

Your registration with GLSEN’s Student Organizing Department is the way we know you are out there organizing and supporting the safer schools movement.

Of course the RRRW must always step in when equal rights for LGBT people are being sought. Their advice to parents regarding the Day of Silence is to keep Godly children home.

The American Family Association is urging parents to keep their children home from school April 25, the National Day of Silence. The Day of Silence, first organized in 1996, encourages students to remain voiceless for a day to represent the silence faced by LGBT people and their allies. Hundreds of schools across the country now participate in the event.

“DOS leads the students to believe that every person who identifies as a homosexual, bisexual or cross-dresser is a victim of ongoing, unrelenting harassment and hate,” the AFA said in its mass email.

“Students are taught that homosexuality is a worthy lifestyle, homosexuality has few or no risks, and individuals are born homosexual and cannot change. Those who oppose such teaching are characterized as ignorant and hateful bigots.”

The AFA is asking parents to inform their school that they will not allow their children to attend that day. They also want parents to explain to their children that “homosexual behavior is not an innate identity; it’s a sinful, unnatural and destructive behavior.”

Go ahead, homophobes, keep your children home on April 25. It will make it that much easier to determine precisely who the bigots are. You’re perfectly welcome to wallow in your ignorance and hatred. But you are not welcome to force it on others. That’s what infuriates you to the depths of your twisted little souls, but it’s reality. Deal with it.

 

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Filed Under: 04/--: Day of Silence, Education/Schools, United States, Youth

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