The Day Of Silence, a national day  for equality, was started in 1996, and has become a powerful tradition made by the ones who dared to start it. These demonstrators bring attention to the high levels of bullying and suicide rates faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community everyday. The silence  will be echoed on April 21 by the SHS Gay-Straight Alliance club.

“Certainly everybody in the club will be participating in this event, and of course it’s really up to the student body if they want to join in and raise awareness as well,” said Paul Diehl, one of the advisors of Gay-Straight Alliance, and interventionist at SHS. “Participating means being an ally to the LGBTQ community, and I am proud to have been involved for three years now.”

Created by Maria Pulzetti, a student at the University of Virginia, the first event was organized in 1996. In 1997, the Day of Silence went national, with almost 100 colleges and universities participating, and in the last several years, over 10,000 participants have registered their involvement with the Day of Silence. These participants are all  different ages and come from different backgrounds. The Day of Silence includes students from all 50 states in the U.S.A. as well as students from countries around the world, including New Zealand, Singapore and Russia.

Isabel Dougherty, a member of GSA and a participant in the Day of Silence at SHS, says she hopes that as many people as possible will be able to participate in the Day of Silence.

“I know it’s hard to stand up for something that is often looked down upon, but at the same time I hope the student body will have courage to express this message,” Dougherty said. “I come from a big Catholic family, that didn’t always accept who I am, so I know how hard it is to get that message across.”  

Diehl says that the popularity of GSA at SHS  has always fluctuated, but they have always had consistent and loyal members who love being a part of the group and continuously involve themselves to try to better their community.

“We tried to get as many people involved as we could,” said Charlie Simecek a sophomore member of GSA at SHS. “We had people signing up at the table next to the cafeteria, and we tried to get it into the announcements too. I think that just by talking to friends we were able to give them some background knowledge on the Day of Silence, and hopefully convince others to participate in it.”

Although Simecek states that she wishes there would be more days dedicated to the LGBTQ community, she believes that the Day of Silence is a meaningful and effective way to express how the persecuted are being silenced.

“I really love the Day of Silence because  it gets the message across,” Simecek said. “This is the most important thing about this day. A lot more  people are easily able to support and influence others’ thoughts on this now more-supported community, and you can do it too.”

SHS students can view the Day of Silence pledge on the walls, as multiple posters were put up for the event. To involve themselves further they can contact Mr. Diehl, Mrs. Smith, a guidance counselor at SHS, or Hannah Edelman the GSA president, and find out how they can participate and make a change themselves.