Day of Silence/Day of Truth

Students in the US hold a Day of Silence every year in support of their GLBT friends.
This year will be the Day of Silence 12th anniversary, and will be held April 25th. Over 5 thousand US schools take part. No students are put on mailing lists, no schools organize this event or require participation, this is about safety, respect, education on bullying and solidarity. The silence of hundreds of thousands of students is powerful.

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.

This Day of Silence has threatened various US religious right groups. Lead by the American Defense Fund they have started a counter movement called The Day of Truth. The Day of Truth origins are not only interesting, the history and motives of the organizing group is deceptive. Students are required to sign up online for future marketing mailings.
This is the fourth year ‘countering’ the Day of Silence.

The Alliance Defence Fund counter movement Day of Truth will be held April 28th. Different political groups such as Exodus and The American Family Association are calling on religious parents to keep their kids home from school Friday so they don’t have to be exposed to silence.  Boycotting school in some states could hurt public school funding.

via: Daniel Gonzales of Ex Gay Watch

Canadian students in British Columbia are holding their Day of Silence this week. BC high school students have been participating in their day of silence for five years.

Individuals targeted because of their sexual orientation were more likely than other groups to suffer violent crimes, including assault and uttering threats. (Statistics Canada, 2004)

Approximately 46% of gay and lesbian victims of hate crime were injured as a result of the incident, almost twice the proportion of 25% among hate crime victims in general. (Statistics Canada, 2004)

Regina Leader-Post: Experts fear violence against gays, lesbians under-reported
Egale Canada Safe School Campaign