Silent for Day of Silence

Being in South Africa, I wasn't sure if I would observe the Day of Silence this year. It isn't observed here, so staying silent wouldn't make much of a difference.

But last week, an 11 year old boy committed suicide in Massachusetts, allegedly from bullying at school that included a lot of anti-gay slurs. So I'd like to show some support toward the often controversial Day of Silence in the US.

For those of you that don't know, it is a national, student-led event that asks students to stay silent for the day to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. The vow of silence is meant to encourage schools and students to address the problem of anti-LGBT bullying, and illustrates the silencing effect that the bullying has on students that identify as or are perceived as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

I will not be blogging on Friday, no twitter, and won't be available electronically. As the website says: My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by name-calling, bullying and harassment. 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?

I hope some of you participate in some way, I know there will be some events on the UW-Madison campus, including a breaking the silence ceremony at the state capitol. I hope to be back on Saturday with stories of Tofo!

Here is a quick video about it from Larry King:

Update: Ha.  The official Day of Silence Twitter account sent me: "You might win the furthest participant for DOS."  Neato.