The Day of Silence: The Right Idea for the Wrong Reason

I start off by saying this was a very difficult article to write. I truly do not want to anger or hurt anyone's feelings. I wish someone else had written this article but so far no one has stepped up to the plate. I speak to you today about a planned civic action bordering on civil disobedience named "The Day of Silence."

According to the website www.dayofsilence.org and I quote "The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. This year's event will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a California 8th-grader who was shot and killed Feb. 12 by a classmate because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. Hundreds of thousands of students will come together on April 25 to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior." I looked for an explanation as to the meaning of "anti-LGBT" behavior and could not find one. Probably my ignorance but I would have appreciated the term being used rather than the abbreviation.

I applaud this organizations attempt to bring the topic of discrimination to schools on a national level. I call them out for being so narrow minded in their agenda. Many people, most of them fundamentalist members of one religion or another are against The Day of Silence for whatever reason their religion tells them they have to be. In its present state of being I can understand why.