GSA hosts a Day of Silence

By Yrenly Yuan,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–

The Davis High Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) hosted a Day of Silence on April 11, during which students did not speak for an entire day.

The purpose of the Day of Silence is to give other students a chance to experience what it would be like to not be able to express themselves, if only for a day.

It also is a protest against the bullying many lesbian, gay, transgender or bisexual students face. The event is in protest of the harassment that eight out of 10 LGBT teenagers in the U.S. face and in support of the remaining two out of 10 that remain “in the closet,” according to GSA member junior Utsav Bhargava.

“There are [many] non-straight teenagers in this country that feel they can’t be honest about who they are because they’ll be bullied or beat up, or that their friends will abandon them or their teachers will judge them,” GSA president junior Kelly Evans said.

Participants in the Day of Silence wore buttons on their shirts to symbolize their vows of silence. Teachers were emailed before the event with names of students in the event.

Evans says that she hopes that the Day of Silence will bring awareness to DHS students about the struggles of some students with their sexuality.

Bhargava, a member of the GSA, hopes that the Day of Silence will help others to realize the problems that lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender students face, and to “contribute to fixing their problems, even by just thinking about their words and actions and the consequences they may have.”

And “even if it doesn’t affect any of the straight participants, maybe it’ll remind our non-straight youth who feel abused that people care. They aren’t alone,” Evan added.

For more information, visit www.dayofsilence.org.