Students have been raising their voices for years in support of the various causes, but Capital’s PRIDE organization is using a different approach. They are choosing instead to raise awareness and support for the LGBT community by using silence during Capital’s third Day of Silence April 20th.
The National Day of Silence was started in 1996 and was sponsored by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network), and has grown to be the largest student-led action that works to create safer schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
The Day of Silence at Capital can be said to be the culmination of PRIDE’s campaign, Think B4 You Speak, that started in the fall semester. Think B4 You Speak was mainly aimed at showing how hurtful words can be, and simply asks individuals to think before they speak any hurtful words about any group of people, including the LGBT community.
However, the Day of Silence is about much more than just raising awareness for anti-LGBT slang. When the LGBT community is harassed or bullied, it is too often looked over and ignored and silenced. By using silence as a tool for raising awareness for the LGBT community, PRIDE is also highlighting the silencing effect of the bullying.
This event is very familiar and important to the President of PRIDE, Justin Poole, who has been hosting the Day of Silence since his sophomore year in high school.
“When I stop to think about why I do it every year one thing still resonates, I want no student, whether they identify as LGBT or not, to experience what I went through when I came out, but I rose above it!” Poole said.
“This event is important to PRIDE because it advocates against the bullying that some members of the LGBT community go through every day. It is vital to raise awareness for this because there have been many suicides that could have been prevented by further educating people on the effects of bullying,” Peyton Hill, a member of PRIDE, said.
Pride has been gathering vocal and silent allies as the Day of Silence draws near. A vocal ally is an individual that agrees to speak out in support of PRIDE and the LGBT community, while a silent ally is one who agrees to remain silent throughout the day.
Each ally who signed up receives a resource packet in their mailbox which includes speaking cards and stickers identifying them as vocal or silent allies. If a student did not have a chance to sign up prior to the event, they can still sign up in the PO lobby the day of the event as a representative of PRIDE will be there.
There will be a silent lunch at 11:30 a.m. and a silent dinner at 5:00 p.m. in the MDR. Participants are asked to meet 15 minutes beforehand in the PO lobby so they can enter the MDR silently as a group.
The Breaking the Silence Rally is at 6:30 p.m. at the fountains and all students are encouraged to attend, regardless of whether they had signed up as allies or not for the day. Dr. Skinner will be speaking on behalf of the organization as a guest speaker, and new Think B4 You Speak posters will be revealed.
Finally, after breaking the silence, UP and PRIDE are cosponsoring a Get Loud Blacklight party in the Mezz at 8:00 p.m., which all students are encouraged to attend.
“I hope that members of the Capital community will join us in unity to show that phrases like “that’s so gay” are not okay, ultimately getting everyone to ‘Think B4 They Speak’,” Poole said.
