do not take notes….

just read….

please understand…my reasons fori am participating in the

a national youth movement bringing attention to

the silence faced by

lesbiangay bisexual and transgender

people and their allies.

day of silence (DOS)not speaking today.

my deliberate silence

echosthat silence, which is caused by

anti-LGBT bullying

name-callingand

harassment.

i believethat ending the silence

is the first step toward building awareness

and making a commitment to address

these injustices.

think about…

the voicethe voices

you are not hearing today…

what are yougoing to do

to endthe ?silence

why participate?i believe

you have got toSTAND UPfor what is

righteven if it means

STANDING ALONE

statistics Nearly one-fourth of students from

elementary through high school have reported that they have been harassed or bullied on school property because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.

-2001-2002 California Student Survey

one-fourth

harassedbullied

statisticsSix out of 10 American teens witness bullying at least once a day.

-National Crime Prevention Council, 2003

Six out of 10

once a day

statisticsStudents hear anti-gay epithets 25 times a day, and teachers fail to respond to these comments 97% of the time.

-Gay Lesbian Straight Educator’s Network.

25 timesteachers fail to respond

97%

statisticsHarassment and bullying have been linked to 75% of school-shooting incidents.

-US Secret Service Report, May 2002

75%

statisticsGay and lesbian youth are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than other youths, and 30% of all completed youth suicides are related to the issue of sexual identity.

-Report to the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide

commit suicide

statistics85% of teachers oppose integrating lesbian, gay and bisexual themes in their curricula.-Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth: Report of

the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, 1993

statisticsMore than 64% of LGBT students say they feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation.

-GLSEN 2003 National School Climate Survey

64%

statisticsMore than 91% of LGBT students say they hear homophobic slurs or expressions frequently or often.

-GLSEN 2003 National School Climate Survey

91%

in 2006lawrence king just turned15 years old.

after to parents and peers,

he was at the end of his 8th grade year.

coming outhe was relentlessly subjected to

bullying

by a group of classmates.

one day in december,

walked into the computer lab

one of those bullies

armed with a gun,

and shot lawrence at range.

point-blank

he was killed.

instantly.

In 2008…belinda allen was 14 years old.

her classmates teased her about

her clothing

and taunted her, calling her a

“lesbian”

it finally became too much,and belinda

hung herself from a treeoutside a social club using her own

scarf.

In 2009…carl joseph walker-hoover

had endured daily taunts of

“being gay”and despite multiple calls and pleas to the

school from his mother

the teasing continued

on monday, april 6, 2009

his mother found carl hanging from his closet.

he was 11 years old.

everyday

you it

hear

laugh atsayallow

the problem only gets worse.

think about…

the voicethe voices

you are not hearing today…

i am participating

i become the 97% of teachers

because everyday i choose to say nothing

who remain silent.

everyone needs an advocate to know they are not alone

to know you are notbadless of a person

because i’m not and i’m tired of staying silent.

wrongstupid

when someone says“you’re

gay”“faggot”“homo”

“gay”

is nothing to be ashamed of

it doesn’t make you wrongbadstupidless of a person

it isn’t an insultbut trying to make it one

always makes at least one person feel likeless of a person

please understand…my reasons fori am participating in the

not speaking today.