The Day of Silence is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) annual day of action to protest the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and their supporters. Students take a day-long vow of silence to symbolically represent the silencing of LGBT students and their supporters.
The Day of Silence has been held each year in April since 1996. The 2012 Day of Silence was April 20. The 2010 Day of Silence was held on April 16; in 2011 it was on April 15. The 2013 Day of Silence will be April 19.
History:
Created by then-student Maria Pulzetti, the first event was organized by students at the University of Virginia in 1996. Pulzetti explained: 'I wanted to do something for BGLAD week that would impact many people at the school and that would be very visible...I knew that if we held panel discussions and events like that, the only people who would come would be the people who already were fairly aware.'
In 2000 Gilliam, Chloe Palenchar, and GLSEN National Student Organizer Chris Tuttle developed the proposal for the day to become an official project of GLSEN. GLSEN developed its first-ever 'student leadership team' as part of the Day of Silence.
In 2008, the Day of Silence was held in memory of Lawrence King, an eighth grader from E.O. Green Middle School who was shot by classmate Brandon McInerney.
