Day of Silence

[kiba-kun]

Did anyone else do it this year?
whether you did or didnt what are your opinions on it?

Just in case you dont know Day of Silence is a protest against hate crimes against gays,lesbians,bisexuals, and transgender indaviduals. you cant talk the whole day and if someone asks why you arent talking you show them a card that says:

TODAY, I AM SILENT
Please understand my reasons for not speaking today.
I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and there allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO END THE SILENCE?

you dont really have to have the card or anything but i mention it cause its the easiest and most present example of what its about....so opinions?

[ThePockyNinja]

*Question*
In order to stand up for that reason you stay silent and accept the slings and arrows of pain?

I am against those hate crimes, but shutting up about it isn't going to do anything about it- Stand up for your rights!

Like they say- " We're Loud! We're Proud!"

Edit: To wrap it up- I agree with the the cause- but not how they're going about it.

[newcastleepl]

except they're not talking about staying silent about their suffering. They're talking being entirely silent for a day. It makes a point, it is shocking, it draws attention. Then They hand out the card that explains why you are doing it and makes the person think.
Sometimes "We're loud! We're proud!" gets tuned out with the noise and everyday talking. The contrast of not speaking for an entire day creates a contrast for the everyday and makes them stand out.
By taking a vow of silence they are standing up for their rights.

[General Koibito Cross]

actually silence gains no attention im against the hate as well too but noise and sound gains attention and if ppl tune it out you b louder thats how you gain attention be loud dont get me wrong i am against the hate

basically the same thing the pocky ninja said

[llove]

I participate in the Day of Silence. Actually, at my school, the people being quiet for the day do get attention, and not really get slurs more than a lot of questions while we're silent. Also, for as long as I've participated the day's been dedicated to someone who's died of hate crimes, like 2008 was dedicated to Lawrence King. So it's half protest half remembering people who died just for being gay. www.dayofsilence.org/
In 2009 it's on April 17th.

[General Koibito Cross]

i get the remembrance that calls for silence, but protest calls for being loud if your quiet ppl shrug it off "oh they arent annoying me" but if your loud and make ppl hear you it gains the attention thats protest

[llove]

Jan 17, 2009 15:33:37 GMT -5 General Koibito Cross said:

i get the remembrance that calls for silence, but protest calls for being loud if your quiet ppl shrug it off "oh they arent annoying me" but if your loud and make ppl hear you it gains the attention thats protest

Not really in school, mine at least. It's normal for everyone to be loud and you tune out the loud. Someone who's normally loud suddenly being silent gets attention.

[zemira]

Also, loud people can get annoying. And the Day of Silence isn't about annoying people to feel bad for the hate crimes. It's a mourning event for the victims of hate crimes. Annoying people doesn't accomplish anything. Being mature will get more of a reaction because so few people fight with maturity these days.

And I'm a normally quiet person, and I still always get asked why I'm silent on the Day of Silence. Luckily, I've never been mocked or ridiculed for my decision to participate, but I know many people who have. It does gain attention. At my high school, there was always a large faction of students who participated and it got quite a reaction.

People are used to protestors being loud and in-your-face. A whole group being silent though is something new and that will bring attention to the cause.

[kiba-kun]

its true....iv seen it many times....its easy to ignore people standing on a street corner yelling things through a megaphone.....but when one of the most talkative people in your class says NOTHING for a whole day it grabs your attention and makes you wonder

[Hime-sama]

My personal complaint to this whole process is:

Why must there be labels like such, anyway? "Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and etc..."

Suffering is bad, yes, no one likes suffering. I don't like the suffering process. But I despise. I completely despise those terms. Not in means that I hate the people that could be included under that category, no. What I mean is that... they are like special labels that separate REGULAR human beings into ... what, a different group of human beings?

I hate those words. And that's what I'd like to express. I don't think a protest is a right way to go at it at all; being ourselves is. Now, to honor someone else? That may be a good cause, but again. These labels. I. Despise. Them, these labels.

I did not mean to offend anyone in this post and if I did I sincerely apologize in advance; it is just an expression of my thoughts... and trust me, I can understand perfectly fine.

[General Koibito Cross]

you have a great point there

[newcastleepl]

True, but not everyone thinks in these terms, and you must do something to change the mind of those people.

[Hime-sama]

Here are my thoughts on that idea:

Right, I can see your point, but if you are actually doing that in the first place, you are succumbing to those people who do not understand in the first place. Second place, you are telling them, that you are different from them by using the terms as mentioned by above. There is nothing in the actual description of the day that advocates the removal of these terms from use. Is there? I'm not seeing it. Ending prejudice, etc... I understand that point greatly and I would like to advocate that very much. But my complaint still remains.

There needs to be a whole different process on ending this... as much as I'd hate to use these terms, but people who are put under these terms are still prejudiced. And small things like these? Well, nice as it is, still only gives off ideas of tolerance. Although people can tolerate each other more than love and accept each other, the ideas given off by this day still are too minimal for any effect. Being quiet… you are putting yourself under their control and their will, isn’t it true? And in turn, you’re still advocating the fact that you support the mentioned terms above, not people with different interests. Even if you get ideas out, you’ll still only receive a small fraction of tolerance. I’ve seen examples where people say they are, well, gay, and their friends immediately go “Well, that’s fine with me, but don’t ever try to flirt with me or anything like that.” Pfft. What if you actually have feelings for such person? It’s definitely a big disappointment and everything still feels bad…

I’m sorry if that didn’t make sense and if I repeated myself or something. I just have too many thoughts about this and I might ramble on. But, well, again, I’d like to say that I still despise these terms, and my proposal on the whole situation is: Remove these terms from your arsenal of words in the first place. We are but regular people aren’t we? Why should we be subjected to such terms? I could go into great detail about how we feel, but alas it is only my ideas of how each individual feels. I am confident however, although sad at these facts, that everyone has the same feelings I do. We are regular people and we should be treated as such.

Again, sorry if I don’t make sense =_=; and again, this is only my take on the situation. Also, I apologize once again if this post has offended anyone in any sort of manner. No one needs to follow, listen, or read it. But thank you if you did, it does mean a lot.

[llove]

My view is counter to yours Shino, if I'm correct about yours.
If I understand your point it's drop the label and the problem (prejudice, ridicule, etc.) will go away, correct?
If that's true then dropping the label would only be denying to yourself what you are. It's true, we are human, but it's also true that we are, in matter of opinion, either wired or choose to be different than heterosexual humans which is the majority and also how they are either wired or choose to be, thus the labels of homosexuality exist.
Race I know is common and also different from the situation but I will try to demonstrate the point using it as an example.
Other races of people are still humans, correct?
But they also have both positive and negative labels to them as well because they are different from other humans around them. We are labeled white, black, oriental, latino, etc. just as others are labeled heterosexual, homosexual, pansexual, etc.. The subcategories for homosexuality(gay, lesbian, bi, transgender) are specified by gender or supposed gender. Going along with American categories, race also has sub categories. White people are American or European. Black people are American, African American, or African. The subcategories of race are determined by the person's family and their own self, where they were born, raised, and currently living.
I am against the uses of the words as insults but I do believe that labels are needed so we can identify ourselves as a specific group within the human race separate from others because we are.
A more used, and true, meaning of separate but equal is more needed than just not identifying ourselves as a unique group is more my point than anything.

[Hime-sama]

I’m not saying the problem would go away. I’m just merely suggesting a “step one” to it and adding my own view on how I view such terms. To answer you, I can only say this. The situations of race and such I don’t believe follow the path of these terms at all. That is why my point is still not retracted. Maybe it’s more of a selfish approach in my cognition, truth is told. Simply put, those terms hurt even if it’s not mean to be offensive to me. That’s all I have to say. Oh well. I’m out of ideas, for now, thanks for replying. x=