You may have noticed something very interesting on April 26th. There were a handful of people who refused to speak. When I say refusing to speak I mean it quite literally.. not to other students, teachers, or even relatives. The reasoning for this Day of Silence? It is a national holiday representing the harassment towards lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transsexuals (LGBT).



This year is the tenth anniversary for this nation-wide holiday. It started in 1996 at the University of Virginia. It was pretty simple. 150 students got together and refused to speak for the full day. Since then, thousands of middle school, high school, and college students nationwide have taken the one-day vow of silence in support of LGBT rights.

In GHS over twenty students fulfilled this obligation this year. Students such as Max Isaacs, Patrick Pierpoint, and Kristen Mita accomplished the goal of one day of silence. Max Isaacs even made it a point to spread the idea of the Day of Silence to as many people as he possibly could. He has his own particular reasons for making this vow. Max believes that there is not enough discussion about LGBTs. According to Max it is only discussed briefly in class, and it is time to start.

Kristen Mita also took advantage of this holiday to make a point. She states: “It is a good cause that I firmly believe in and I wanted to do what I could. The silence was a good time of belief and reflection; and it was, ironically, a way for a talkative person like myself to ‘speak out’.” She believes that it is important for everyone to take a stand on this touchy subject.



Hopefully more people will get involved with this holiday next year. It has already expanded a great deal since last year and hopefully it will again. As Patrick Pierpoint states, it is a good way to “take a walk in someone else’s shoes”