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.

I am both for and against the The Day of Silence. I am for this civic action as it teaches children in the early years they have the right to protest something they see as wrong or concerns them. This teaching is mostly overlooked in this country as protesting has become somewhat of a nasty word for our generation. It is not. Protesting not only is provided for in the United States Constitution, it is a perfectly natural response groups will have to actions they deem have injured them in one manner or another. Many teachers are against this protest because if taken to the point that it should be taken, regular lesson plans for the day will be totally disrupted. However it is a priceless opportunity for teachers around the country to lead by example and teach to these young impressionable minds what protest really means and how it should be done responsibly.

I am against this civic action because I think the objective is narrow minded and only supports the agenda of homosexuals. I am of the belief that a civic action against all types of discrimination in this country would be much more appropriate. This is such a simple idea one wonders why the organizers would not have thought of this to increase the number of people who would empathize with the cause. With that question in my mind I have to ask: Why is Homosexual discrimination any more important than other types of discrimination? The thinking man would answer his question by saying there is no difference. His next question would be: what is the real agenda of The Day of Silence movement? And to that question I have no answer. You decide. Get involved, talk to people about the reason for protest and the reasons for discrimination, all types of discrimination.