Speaking with Silence
Last Wednesday marked the 11th annual Day of Silence, a project planned by GLSEN (otherwise known as the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network). Every year, students at high schools and universities across the country take a stand against homophobia and bullying against LGBT students in the classroom by making a pledge of silence for a day. This silence is meant to symbolize the silence felt by LGBT students every day due to harassment by other students simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Day of Silence has been an important and powerful way to rally students around a common cause of creating safer schools for LGBT students and their allies. The project has grown over the years, and in 2007 nearly 5,000 schools signed up for the Day of Silence, with hundreds of thousands of students planning on participating, according to a news release from GLSEN.
There is no doubt that schools are safer and more tolerant than they had been 5, 10, or 20 years ago. The younger generations in this country are much more tolerant and accepting of their LGBT peers than generations past, and for many sexual orientation or gender identity is a non-issue. The Day of Silence is still quite relevant, however, since there is still a good deal of harassment and bullying taking place in schools across the country. In its news release, GLSEN references an attack that occurred in a school in Colorado just two weeks ago, where six students harassed a student with anti-gay slurs and hurled rocks at him, hurting him badly enough to require surgery on his nose.
According to a 2005 survey conducted by GLSEN, 64% of respondents felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation. What needs to happen is change on the organizational level at schools, where a lack of curriculum and support for LGBT students is undermining the safety of an entire group of students. Change will not happen fast, it seems, especially since most attempts to introduce curriculum surrounding LGBT history or discussion of different sexual orientations are protested heavily, or completely ignored by school boards.
There have been some states that have tried to pass LGBT curriculum bills, however, and create a more inclusive learning environment for all students. A bill passed in California last year, although it was a watered down version of a previous bill due to veto threats from Governor Schwarzenegger.
I personally don’t see where the problems lie, however. As a gay student, I sat through endless lectures about straight historical characters. In sex ed, I sat through more or less an entire unit that spoke almost exclusively about heterosexual intercourse. The only time I remember hearing anything about homosexuality was that it was “okay if you are, okay if you aren’t.” I’m not saying that’s a bad message, and in fact that’s often more than most students hear in the classroom setting. What I am saying is that in order to create a safer classroom for all students, and in turn create a safer society, curriculums and programs must include all students, so long as the material is factual.
Hopefully the Day of Silence, which speaks so loudly without words, will lead to a greater discussion about what can be done to make the classroom a safer place for all students.
