Today is Friday: the anticipation for the weekend is buzzing in this school, and the halls are full of conversation, laughter, and noise.
I stand in these halls amongst my peers who are talking, but today, I am not. Today is April 15, 2016, also known as the GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network) Day of Silence, and today I have taken the pledge to remain completely silent in recognition of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people — and their allies — who are faced by name-calling, harassment, and bullying across the globe every single day. While I am silent today, I am still extremely loud; my actions are reflecting the silence that LGBT teens experience every day.
According to the GLSEN Day of Silence Website, www.dayofsilence.org, nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students reported verbal, sexual, or physical harassment at school. Additionally, two out of the three top reasons students said their peers were bullied was because of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender expression.
Almost everyday I hear someone use the word “gay” in a negative connotation, as if someone’s identity is something that people can simply throw around. Not only that, but something that they can throw around as an insult to others, as something they can use to hurt and make fun of not only the person they’re directing it towards, but also every single person that identifies as gay or are struggling with their sexual orientation.
As a reader, you may be curious as to what I identify myself as, and, while I am in no way obligated to tell you, I have no issue with saying that I’m straight–maybe you were expecting that, maybe you weren’t. I don’t know, but what I do know is that even though I may not be directly affected by the bullying that LGBT teens face every day, I see classmates, peers, and friends struggle with it, and to see that strikes something within me; I have a desire, an absolute need to speak out against this bullying.
Everytime you or someone you know makes fun of a person who identifies as LGBT, you’re not only being incredibly inconsiderate and horribly cruel, but you’re also making fun of how someone identifies themselves–it would be like every LGBT teen snarling “that’s so straight” if they found something undesirable. Just as it’s absolutely unacceptable to use the word retarded in a negative connotation because you’re making fun of a cognitive impairment that someone has absolutely no control over, it’s completely unacceptable to use the word gay in a negative connotation because you’re making fun of the way by which someone identifies themselves; they don’t get to pick how they identify.
Identity is something that everyone struggles with at some point, and that doesn’t mean only in the context of sexual orientation, but simply in the sense of finding your way in a sea of high schoolers, piles of homework, raging hormones, and new friend groups. Everyone struggles with finding their place, so why make it even more difficult when we’ve all been there? It’s scary enough for LGBT teens to come out and be who they truly are as is, and instead of creating an unaccepting environment, simply be kind and keep any ill-mannered comments to yourself. Just as I’m entitled to my own opinion, you are too, but that doesn’t mean either of us need to express it in a negative way that will harm someone else.
I’ve been taught that words have power and that I need to use them wisely. Even though today I am silent, it is a deafening silence; I am extremely loud. Recognize the voices you are not hearing today, and ask yourself: what are you doing to end the silence?
