The Wauwatosa West Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) sponsored student participation in the nationwide “Day of No Silence” on Friday, April 4th.
The Day of No Silence was started in the 1990s by two college students as the Day of Silence in which students and allies around the country protest harassment and discrimination of LGBTQ+ people.
“Days like tomorrow are really not about getting on a soap box and delivering a speech. It’s just about the way in which we can do little things to make people feel loved and supported and I feel like that’s how we operate here at West, and so it’s just a really nice opportunity to to confirm that and to kind of come together in support of our LGBTQ students.” said Social Studies teacher and GSA Advisor Chris Benes
In 2024, the sponsoring organization GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) changed the day to Day of (NO) Silence. According to the web site, this is “in opposition to the current attempted erasure of LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender and nonbinary people.”
“I think it’s really important people know that we’ve gotten to a point where people just can’t be silent anymore and we need to raise our voices,” said Senior Charlie Hannan
According to the GLSEN web site, In the past, the Day of Silence was a demonstration in which primarily students of the LGBTQ+ community come together and take a vow of silence. The reason the Day of Silence has been made is to raise awareness to the issues our LGBTQ+ community is facing. Because people of the LGBTQ+ Community have faced harassment and discrimination in school and society for countless decades, every April, students go through a school day without saying a word to raise awareness.
The day has recently been changed to Day of (NO) Silence because society has been trying to threaten LGBTQ+ rights and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole decided using their voices as a community would bring more awareness. The goal is to educate society on issues that negatively impact the LGBTQ+ Community.
“I think when we go back in time, we can point to the manner in which we as a society have not looked out for our LGBTQ brothers and sisters and in fact have engaged in or taken actions that have actively harmed them or made them feel as though they’re less important or that their life doesn’t matter as much as others,” said Social Studies teacher and GSA Advisor Chris Benes.
Historically, the LGBTQ+ Community has not been prioritized by the government. Members of the community and their allies are looking to take action with the name change to The Day of no Silence.
