CstrzRock Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Today is "The Day of Silence"... The Day of Silence, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in collaboration with the United States Student Association (USSA), is a student-led day of action where those who support making anti-LGBT bias unacceptable in schools take a day-long vow of silence to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment -- in effect, the silencing -- experienced by LGBT students and their allies. I have actively participated in this today at my school. Each time someone talks to you... you hand them a card explaining the issue and why you aren't talking. The organization website can be reached by clicking the banner below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak11 Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Quite a few people at my school were also doing this. Pretty interesting, but also pretty cool. I don't think I could go a whole day without talking!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterzak Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Sounds like an awesome idea. Definitely something we need to bring to my school. We had to have a day of silence before so we could understand what other people with disabilities go through being impaired in some way or another and I did it the whole day and it was quite a challenge. I think things like this are great and I wish it really came to my small town in Ohio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Personall, I'd rather have a day of random screaming.... But that's just me. --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispy Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Personall, I'd rather have a day of random screaming.... LOL I'm sure I would be fired if I tried that at my work, especially if I did it in the Mental Health Center LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What Now Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Everyday is a Day of Silence for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mind Eraser Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 It should be A Day of Moaning and Squealing. Afterall, the only thing gay people do is have sex. They're all on welfare because they can't work because they need to stay home all day having gangbangs. Edit: Woo! My 100th post and it's all about welfare and gangbangs! -kip- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eunuch Provocateur Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 we had this at my school two weeks ago... no one came to school that because most of us in Rancho are apparently homo phones... The Gay of Silence was pretty interesting, honestly, because people wear retarded shirts that say, "Straight Pride," and are just straight up lame for not respecting the choices of people unlike them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 It should be A Day of Moaning and Squealing. Afterall, the only thing gay people do is have sex. They're all on welfare because they can't work because they need to stay home all day having gangbangs.-kip- Hey, I think there should be a Day of Bitching for envious straight dudes who can't get laid without having, in one way or another, to pay for it. But that's just me... And anyway, I thought we queers are so rich and powerful that we secretly rule the world. Or is that the Jews? Edit: hey, it's my 69th post and it's about having sex! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiCoastal Kid Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 I didn't even bother. Doing all this protesting and bitching doesn't do anything to help the image of the "gay" community. It's hypocritical in that the people who participate are looking for unification and acceptance by singling themselves out. It makes NO effing sense to me at all. "You don't like gay people, so I'm not gonna talk." SCREW THAT! The best way to get your ass accepted is TO talk. I'm pretty sure the reason nobody at my school holds my sexuality against me or hates me is because I talk to them and they realize,"Oh, hey, he's pretty cool even if he is a queermo." And when all you people walk around handing out cards and not talking the usual concensus is,"They are annoying, why are they making me read this acceptance shit?" Plus, it's kinda insulting to people when you tell them you think they aren't "mature" or "accepting," when really, gay people should accept the fact that not EVERYBODY is gonna effing like them. Get the fricking hell over it already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 I didn't even bother. Doing all this protesting and bitching doesn't do anything to help the image of the "gay" community. Plus, it's kinda insulting to people when you tell them you think they aren't "mature" or "accepting," when really, gay people should accept the fact that not EVERYBODY is gonna effing like them. Get the fricking hell over it already. Hey...since we're on the subject... With all due respect, junior... I'm a lot older than you, and have some historical perspective on this matter. The only reason you, dude, have whatever rights you do (and in Georgia, it's not many) is because other queers went out and protested and bitched...and organized. A mere decade ago, a gay man could have been sent to prison for 20 years for having consensual sex in your great state. In Georgia, you can legally be fired from a job for being queer. You can be thrown out of your aprtment. If you should be lucky enough to settle down with a partner, your state will not recognize the relationship. You're a second-class citizen, and it's not because people were annoyed by being handed cards on the Day of Silence... I mean, I know you're only 16 and cool and like coasters and stuff. But I doubt you know jack about queer history, or have done any political work, and okay, that's fine. But please don't start giving know-it-all attitude about people who've fought, sometimes at great personal cost, for your rights. Here in California, queers do have the right to a job and a place to live and some partnership rights, and believe me, it's not because our straight classmates thought we were "pretty cool." No, not every straight person is going to like or accept me. (Though acceptance is, certainly, growing.) But straight society is gonna grant me equal rights, or else I, and other queers, are gonna fight for them. I guess you live at Mom and Dad's and don't yet have to support yourself and don't have a partner to care for, so maybe you think the issue comes down to being liked in high school. But it's a bigger fight than that, and, really, you're not above it. Love, Shepp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 This day must have been hell for deaf and mute people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiCoastal Kid Posted April 19, 2005 Share Posted April 19, 2005 ^^ Okay, I can respect the whole "The people in the past fought for this" stuff, but to come at me like I don't realize that the issues are bigger than just highschool, frankly, kinda peeves me. I just have a different way I'd rather go about getting things out in the open then doing little protests and "bitching." I don't find protests respectable, so naturally, I try to avoid them, and go about saying the same general messages on a smaller scale. Even if it doesn't really do as much asm running around and giving people cards, i atleast won't feel like a self-important idioth(not saying people who do it are, it's just how I feel about it, you gusy can do whatever you want). And the queer history thing in my eyes is crap. Saying queer history is just another way to differentiate between groups, just like "black history," and I think that's pretty shitty to seperate history into subcatergories based on the group it applies to. So I'd rather ignore the facts of if it's gay/straight or white/black whatever, and just recognize it as general progressions or regressions in society and/or the overall swing of things. Add on: I also prefer not to refer to myself as queer... in my opinion, it's the same as when African Americans call each other "nigga" when they fought not to deal with THAT segregation and oppression. So, to me, there isn't any logic behind the homosexual community referring to themselves as "queers" as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 ^ Sorry if I sounded condescending. You have guts for being out in high school, and I respect that. However, your approach in your original post was pretty damn judgmental, and while queer people can have disagreements over tactics (though a roller coaster site is a pretty weird place to air them) your "SCREW THAT!" tone while lecturing activists on what is or is not the best way of furthering gay causes smacks of, well, arrogance. It's absolutely fine with me if you don't want to participate in the Day of Silence - or anything else - but who are you, at the ripe age of 16 (with, from what I can tell, minimal political experince or knowledge of the gay movement) to lecture the rest us on what is or isn't good for the gays? There are plenty of straight people who will tell you some of their best friends are gays, yet oppose giving us our legal rights. Even the damn fundamentalists tell us they "love" us...though we are, regrettably, damned to eternal torment. You may not want to approach things on the basis of gay/straight, and you may oppose group actions and protests. But when lesbians were fired from Cracker Barrel restaurants for being queer, only protesting as a group got C.B. to change its antigay policy. And if you think we're past the era of community action, think again. I repeat...in Georgia, you have NO right not to be fired or evicted merely on account of your orientation. If you think your showing your fellow students that you're a cool dude is, in and of itself, going to change that, dream on. As far as "queer" goes...first, I use it because it encompasses gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people. And it's not like "nigger." "Fag" is. If you knew about gay history - something you disdain - you'd know that until the late 20th century, many queer people preferred to call themselves "queer," rather than "gay." And anyway, since the resurgence of "queer," plenty of homophobes are now using "gay" as an epithet. And there's the rise of academic "queer studies," and the whole "queer theory" thing. So I think of myself as "gay" AND "queer." And part of a larger queer movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiCoastal Kid Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 I don't get on to people for doing what they do, and I don't appreciate when people do that to me. I wasn't getting on to anybody or telling them not to protest or w/e, I was simply saying I don't like it cause I don't think it does anything positive in the long run. You may be able to say,"Oh, well you HAVE to let me do this," but that doesn't do anything when it comes to actual acceptance, it just says they have to deal with it. I'd rather have something that was given voluntarily than something that was forced upon somebody. And that's JUST ME. Also, why anybody would think so far into being gay is beyond me. Being gay isn't anything to feel special about or be proud of, it's just another thing about a person like their hair or eye color... you just can't buy things, like contacts or dye, that can cover up your preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 Also, why anybody would think so far into being gay is beyond me. Being gay isn't anything to feel special about or be proud of, it's just another thing about a person like their hair or eye color... you just can't buy things, like contacts or dye, that can cover up your preference. Thanks for clarifying - I think I initially misunderstood where you were coming from. And I agree that just being gay is nothing in particular to be proud of. It should also, of course, not be a reason to be beaten, fired, thrown out of your home, or damned to hell. But we (still) live in a homophobic society, and standing up to all that IS a reason to be proud. I'm proud of students, queer and straight, who participate in the Day of Silence. More than that, though, I'm proud of guys like you who choose to be out in high school. That's awesome. Because there is the gay equivalent of hair dye: being in the closet. You're out, I'm sure it's cost you something, and I salute you. There are long, boring academic arguments over whether there's such a thing as a transhistorical or cross-cultural "gay" identity. Perhaps it's because of my generation, or living in San Francisco, or my life experience, or my reading, or all of the above, but I do feel a commonality with other queers. (Like my parents felt about being Jewish, some of which lingers in me as well.) I feel a bond with the Egyptian gays swept up in a mass arrest, or the men in an Amsterdam gay bar - even if I have absolutely nothing at else (including coasters) in common with them. When I've run into other gay men at theme parks, I feel the same - it's like we're starting in the middle of conversation. Once again - you may not feel I should, but I feel proud of you. And though, as queers gain equal rights, our sense of being a "community" may vanish, I'm glad that it's easier for you in your high school than it was for me in mine. And I wish you even better days ahead. Shepp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispy Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 Wow, well coming from a straight perspective, and raised in a VERY christian home, this is what I believe, feel and do I do not really care what you do with your life, its your life, the way I should live my life is to respect your choices, and respect you not as a "queer", or "gay" person, but just a person, you will get no special treatment, and will be treated as I treat all the people I know I don't treat ANYONE any diffrent because of thier sexual orientation, and I emplore everyone to do the same, the people that have worked for me, and the ones I count as my friends can see that I really don't care that they are gay. I have the deep DEEP belief that everyone wants to be treated with respect, and as no diffrent than the next person, so I do that, I'm not going to tell you how many "gay" friends I have, because thats BS!!, I just have friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiCoastal Kid Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 ^^Ahhhh, okay. I misdunderstood you as well. I was getting peeved cause I mistook your posts for preaching. I can udnerstand the feeling of connection thing. I just don't take as active of action in protesting stuff. And being proud of somebody being out in HS is something to be proud of, cause I mean... yeah, I've lost a few things that I have to gain back(like, my reputation. status: ruined by rumours), but I think I've gained far greater then waht I've lost, so it works. Yup, mistunderstandings... cause a lot of problems sometimes. Anyway, onward we trudge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingScooter Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 i say live and let live. I can't judge anyone but myself and my own actions. I wonder what the new pope has to say on the subject of gays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispy Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 I wonder what the new pope has to say on the subject of gays from what I hear he is VERY conservative, very simular to John Paul, you know, the last pope, and almost as old Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twister II Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 OMG the parents in Colorado had such a hissy fit over this whole day of silece thing. They were talking about it on Alice 105.9, I think the parents had a right to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuakerOaties Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 ^ That doesn't surprise me. From what I've heard and read, Colorado is EXTREMELY conservative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 ^ Depends on where in the state. Colorado Springs is Convert a Queer for Christ central. South Park, on the other hand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 i say live and let live. I can't judge anyone but myself and my own actions. I wonder what the new pope has to say on the subject of gays. That we're "evil" and "disordered." Gotta love an ex-Nazi in a dress... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freefall Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 I wish my girlfriend was a lesbo, a day of silence would be blissfull! that and the threesums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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