Today, April 12th, I participated in the Day of Silence at my school, which is a national student-led event, (led by our school’s Diversity Club) meant to show the effect of the bullying of LGBTQ+ students around the world. For the entire school day, I didn’t speak to anyone, (If I had social media I wasn’t supposed to use that) and I wore a sticker to show my support. It was meant to symbolize the difficulty and frustration people from this community and even just those who are bullied in general face in this issue, talking to others, and the loss of a voice in somebody else’s life.
Aside from being a really fun way to annoy and challenge my friends with my terrible pantomime and test their lip-reading ability, I wanted to show my support for a cause that— while I may not be “out” as queer at my school— I wanted people to know that I do support it and if they don’t they better not question me because I will fight them. I’m still a little conflicted by the idea that my school (This is illegal btw in my state) would not allow for a GSA club, (a Gay-Straight Alliance), and instead forced it to be called “Diversity Club” even though International Club has all the scant racial diversity already in my midwestern public school. I’m going to say it again. THIS IS ILLEGAL. It is upsetting to me that we STILL can’t completely be proud of who we are in a school setting, even though we’ve made so much progress— just doing this movement is a massive step, and I’m so glad I participated.
I’m not sure how to end this little rant, I guess I just wanted to let the only social media platform I have that I did this and I’m very happy about it. Did any of you have something like the DOS in your school today? Just out of curiosity Have a wonderful day/night, all of you.
