Students participate in National Day of Silence to speak up against anti-LGBT bullying

Marcus Hijkoop
Reporter & Website Manager

On Friday, April 15th, dozens of students throughout the high school participated in the 13th annual National Day of Silence, in order to address the silencing effect of anti-LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans-gender) harassment and bullying. Participants attended class as usual, but refrained from speaking as they held signs and posters to convey their message.

Ed Milton, Social Worker at Kids in Crisis and adviser of the Gay-Straight-Alliance and Names Can Hurt programs at NCHS, encouraged students to partake in the event and said that he was pleasantly surprised by the amount of support it received.

“The overall support from students and teachers was phenomenal,” Mr. Milton said. “I was also surprised to see how many people who weren’t involved with the event knew what was going on and how some even decided to join in halfway through the day.”

Students who vowed silence also said that they were surprised by their own determination to stay quiet for the entire day. “I did slip up a few times but luckily I had a white board with me so I was at least able to communicate,” junior Katie Krueger said. “It surprised me a little bit that I could keep quiet, because I talk a lot, but I was proud of myself that I accomplished it.”

The Day of Silence was originally created by students at the University of Virginia in 1996, and since then has become a national event, sponsored by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, in 2001. These students felt that by remaining silent for an entire day, they could actually, “Speak up for those who can’t” and call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying. Today, the National Day of Silence is one of the largest student-run school actions in the world.

Mr. Milton expressed extreme pride for the actions of the students and the school as a whole. “The Gay-Straight-Alliance supported the initial effort but the event has always been student driven,” he said. “This is a body of students that will not tolerate bullying or harassment on any level.”

Katie also spoke of the significance of student involvement in the event. “I think it’s important for NCHS to experience events like these because there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t hear a gay slur be used or hear “gay” be used as a synonym for stupid,” she said. “I think if people keep participating in this event and more people join, then it might trigger a wake up call to the people who use those words.”

Photos by Marcus Hijkoop