Just out., March 21, 2003, Page 17, Image 17

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"Many people don't
realize... that we face
verbal and physical
harassment every day
because o f our
real/perceived
sexual orientation
or gender identity"
H
ave you spent a day in high school
recently? If you did, you probably
heard more than 25 derogatory
remarks about homosexuals, and
even more about people who
don’t fit neatly into their assigned gender.
If you were there as a vocal supporter of
queers, even if you identify as straight, at least
10 of those remarks were directed at you. There
aren’t enough hours in the day to educate
everyone who says that something is “so gay” or
that someone they dislike is a “fucking fag.”
You have to choose your battles. Som etimes,
you have to choose silence.
Things have changed for the better since the
days of Stonewall, but it still isn’t easy to go
through school as a gay, lesbian, hi, trans or ques­
tioning student. Although many have Gay
Straight Alliances and policies against harassment,
sch(X)ls remain unsafe for many kids who must
chrxise silence in order to protect themselves.
In 1996 students at University o f Virginia
decided it was time to reclaim silence and make
it work for them. They had a novel idea: W hy
not spend an entire school day in silence as a
way to start a community dialogue about the
daily injustice in the lives o f sexual and gender
minority students? They called it the Day of
Silence, and it was an overwhelming success.
T h e Day o f Silence spread quickly across the
country and internationally. By 2000 more than
300 middle schools, high schools, colleges and
universities were participating.
In 2001 the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Edu­
cation Network became the official sponsor of
the Day of Silence Project. It fonned a network
of regional organizers so that even more queer
students and allies could participate.
Last year 1,900 schools, colleges and univer­
sities were involved, making it the largest stu­
dent-led action for safer schtxils in the country.
T his year’s event is set for April 9.
T h e C atlin G able School in Portland was
one o f more than 4 0 institutions in Oregon and
Southwest Washington that took part in 2002.
Junior and G S A co-leader Sarah Sm ith was pro­
foundly affected by the experience.
“T h e Day of Silence gave me insight into the
feelings o f those forced into silence because of
stx:ial pressure and intolerance,” she says. " I ’m
open about my sexuality, and voicing that is a
huge part of my daily life.
“W hen I had an entire day to just observe
reactions to my sile n ce ...it was stunning. There
were a few who tried to make us speak or laugh
or distract us from our cause, hut mostly we were
respected, and our silent group stuck together.
W e used our silence as a bond; it became our
strength rather than a weakness.
“It felt incredible to have a large percentage
[about one-fifthl of our predominantly straight
17
ful for students to use that same
oppressive silence to change their situ­
ations to get to a point that their
silence is not necessary.
"M y own experience with being
silent for a full nine hours is that it
really makes a person think about what
they do say. Because you can’t talk, you
listen more closely. For me, it not only
made the normal barrage of ‘that’s so
gay’ stand out more, but it also made
— Sophia Lanza-W eil me wonder if I sounded like that to
anyone. There are all kinds of closets
we put people in, and my own silence
gave me a chance to think about what I might
be perpetuating through my actions/words in
other areas.”
This year students in Portland plan to con­
gregate in Pioneer Courthouse Square after
school in order to share their quiet plea for
equality with the public. T h e Night of Noise,
which begins at 5 p.m., is an opportunity for
participants to break their silence together.
Organizers hope the event will allow those
she uses her position to do more
who have been silent to share their experiences
than that.
and feelings and to celebrate what they have
“I help G SA s get started/revi-
accomplished. They expect more than 400 stu­
talized, and I answer questions,”
dents, teachers and parents to attend. J H
she says. “I started my G S A , so I
have that experience behind me,
For m ore inform ation about the D ay OF SILENCE
and I feel like I have a lot of
PROJECT visit uA vw .dayofsilence.org or contact
resources that I can offer.
Sophia Lanza-W eil at sophia@ dayofsilen ce.org. To
“I am also working to network
m ake a donation fo r the NlGHT OF NOISE contact
student groups, espe­
M elissa Shepherd o f Basic
cially in states like
Rights O regon at
W yoming,
where
503 - 222 - 6151 .
there aren’t a lot o f G SA s. Isolation
is my big thing: I want to get rid of it
K a t W ils o n is a
as quickly as possible, so 1 use D O SP
free-lan ce writer and
work as a tool for reaching hundreds
student in Portland.
of students across the country and
connecting them .”
Lanza-Weil never expected she’d
he serving in such a significant capac­
ity. She had read about the position
on G L SE N ’s Web site and applied on
— Chris Skrapits
a whim; within a few weeks she
found herself in Chicago meeting the
rest of the Student Leadership Team.
W hy is she so committed to the Day o f
Silence?
“It is incredibly important to be constantly
pushing the message that harassment still exists
for queer youth and their allies,” she says. “Many
people don’t realize that it still happens or that
we face verbal and physical harassment every
day because of our real/perceived sexual orienta­
tion or gender identity.
“D O SP is also a unique project in that it
reclaims silence. Everyone has been silent in the
face of some sort of harassment. It’s very power­
U sing S ilence
to S peak O ut
Students take action to expose daily injustice
in the lives of sexual and gender minorities
by Kat Wilson
school act out against the social isolation of sex­
ual minorities. I gained new respect for the peo­
ple involved, and I think we all gained a hit of
perspective o f the daily lives o f those who feel
oppressed by social taboos. As a community, I
think it made us more accepting and open to
sexual orientation and preference.”
Chris Skrapits, an exit gay teacher at Catlin
Gable and faculty adviser to the school’s G SA , was
impressed by how many kids were willing to support
sexual minorities by staying silent for an entire day.
“I was shocked about how many students were
willing to take this on,” he says. “The most impor­
tant thing is for students who are in the closet or
coming out to see all of their peers standing up.. .for
LG BTQ acceptance. I think that one of the most
powerful things we get out of it is that people get to
identify themselves as allies and friends. We can see
a critical mass of people who care.”
Sophia Lanza-Weil, a senior at Franklin
High in Portland, is so committed to the Day of
Silence that she works on it behind the scenes
year-round. As Western regional student organ­
izer, her official role is to help kids in 12 states
coordinate the project at their own schools. But
"The most important
thing is for students
who are in the doset
or coming out to see
all o f their peers
standing u p ... for
LGBTQ acceptance"
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