As I've probably said a million times on here before, I’m generally considered a loud person. As I explained to my friend Cris, it’s not exactly that I’m loud (although I am), it’s more that I’m just constantly spewing a stream of noise. If I’m not talking, I’m trying to talk, and if I’m not doing that I’m singing. This year, I decided that I would participate in GLSEN’s Day of Silence. For those who don’t know, Day of Silence is a day on which students all over the nation are invited to take a vow of silence to shed light on the silence faced by LGBT+ youth due to harassment and oppression.
I honestly thought it would be one of the hardest things I would ever do. Truthfully, I couldn’t think of anything that would classify as being more difficult than that. This was in part because I didn’t think very hard about difficult past experiences, but also because I am ‘a talker.’ I emailed all of my teachers beforehand, and I also had two little cards explaining my silence, one in both English and one in Spanish.
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| the card |
I got off to a strong start. I didn’t talk to my mom in the morning, but we both know a little bit of American Sign Language so that wasn’t a problem. I just showed the card to everyone I talked to that day and they understood. I only got positive responses, which was a huge surprise. I have extremely accepting friends who would never say anything truthfully homophobic, transphobic, or generally offensive, so I wasn’t surprised in that regard. However, many people in my high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance who had previously participated in Day of Silence said that they couldn’t make it through the whole day because of the comments to which they felt the need to respond. Therefore, I was ecstatic at the responses I received, which were all along the lines of either curiosity, expressing that they were proud of me for participating, or just flat-out supportive.
I only had a few slip-ups, which was also a bit of a surprise to me. I talked a little bit during science, as we had a substitute teacher and I was working with others. Other than that, and when I exclaimed “ew!” at someone saying their chips tasted like something which I honestly can’t remember at the moment, I made it all the way through the school day and the bus-ride home without a peep.
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| My awesome lip tattoo and super comfy GSA shirt. |
All along I had been planning to only do it during school, therefore I completely broke the vow when I walked in the door of my house. The way I see it, the point is to raise awareness (as well as of course experiencing the silence yourself). When you’re home alone with no one else to “hear” that silence, what’s the real reason to stay silent? Reede was also having her birthday party that day and I didn’t really want to not talk the whole time.
All in all, Day of Silence was definitely a success for me. I heard from some friends that also participated that they did get some annoying comments, but the response I got was 100% positive. For anyone considering participating in the future, I would definitely recommend it, as it was a super awesome experience and it's a really great way to raise awareness for the silence that LGBTQIA+ kids are forced into on a daily basis.
Ttfn,
Names are a box
(Btw, if you haven’t picked up on the names are a box thing, watch my TEDx Talk (I’ll link it whenever I perform it and get the video, so this "explanation" isn't actually helpful. Sorry (not really).).
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