GSA Stays Silent While Raising Voices For Gay Rights
By Talia Gurevich
Photo Courtesy/ Youthnoise.com
On Friday the 16 The Day Of Silence (DOS) took place. During lunch at the rally, everyone wearing purple wore it to support DOS. For those of you who don’t know what the Day Of Silence is, it is a social protest in which all participating figures don’t speak in order to symbolize the lack of voice that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people (LGBT) have in society. There was a big turnout of people who participated on Friday, but it was apparent that some had difficulty keeping the vow of silence.
As a participant, I too found the prospect of being silent all day daunting, and I understand why some people were having trouble. As someone who has participated in Day Of Silence before, I support gay rights, but I think that Day Of Silence is a bit passive. If one wants people’s attention and raise the issue of gay rights, shouldn’t they make a vocal protest instead of a silent one?
The point of Day Of Silence is to symbolize the lack of voice LGBT people have, but if their not having a voice is the issue, shouldn’t they raise theirs? I think it make the protest more active than how it is now. This form of protest draws little attention, and it might be more helpful to the cause if instead of being silent one speaks out.
The GSA at San Mateo High School was very successful this year in how many people decided to sign up for DOS and participate. Even though I think that Day Of Silence should be more vocal, it’s still a great cause and its now nation wide. It started in 1996, and it has become the largest single student-led action towards creating a better and safer environment for LGBT’s in schools all across the country.
One thing to remember about DOS is that it’s a serious activity, it’s not something to joke about. If someone signs up just to get out of schoolwork, it negates the importance of the cause. So if you do care about LGBT rights, sign up next year, wear the sticker and the color, and don’t talk.
-Natalia Gurevich, Staff Writer
Short URL: http://www.thebearcat.net/?p=125
Posted by Talia Gurevich
on Apr 30 2010. Filed under Front Page Slider, Opinion.
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