Another happier photo of myself on Day of Silence 2010.
Day of Silence 2010
Unfortunately, not much planning went into my particapation in this year’s Day of Silence, so I was unable to blog about responses, though I can post a few faint memories here, a few months later.
One of the main things that I will remember is a boy coming up to me and saying “You’re gay, you should shut up.” This broke my heart in so many ways. And I couldn’t retort, due to the duct tape over my mouth.
I was able to participate in an extra activity in which our Special Effects teacher did gory make-up for the participants in DoS and gave out nametags of various individuals who had been murdered or hurt because of their sexuality or sexual identity. Mine was Fanny Eddie, a murdered lesbian.
One of the most touching moments of the day, however, was one of the first. A young African American came in first period with red duct tape on his mouth, similiar to mine, and briefly pulled his off and said “What’s this for?” I replied (via the whiteboard I used to communicate) that it was for LGBT rights. He asked if that made him gay. I said it made him a supporter of civil rights. He nodded and put the tape back over his mouth, remaining silent the whole day. This gave me so much hope.
Later on in the day, people started stealing my whiteboard, my only method of communicating, and using it to doodle. These were not even people who participated or cared about Day of Silence. They broke my marker, and, for three periods, I had absolutely no way of communicating anything. At first, I was so mad at them for their ignorance and apathy, but now I somewhat appreciate what they did. They forced me to truly experience isolation like some of my LGBTQQsA peers.
Thanks to the amazing support of my friends, though, I was able to make it 24 hours without talking! I hope to share more with you next year!
