What is “Day of Silence?” Day of Silence is a day that is meant to represent the silencing of LGBTQ+ people and to put the focus on how each and everyone has an impact. It is meant to bring attention to some of the struggles that the community faces, namely, harassment. 

In previous years, at Capital High School, one of the ways that participants showed their vow of silence was by wearing a mask, but due to COVID-19, that idea was tossed out. Instead, this year students simply emailed teachers, stating something along the lines of, “I am participating, I won’t be silent, please respect my choice.” 

The silence even continued into GSA, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance at Capital High School, where students discuss LGBTQ+ Topics and allows these students to be a part of their community at school, making it a safe space for those, they meet in room B-7 with Ms. Donnelly and Tagg Seyer. 

A question many people have asked, what struggles do LGBTQ+ students face? Well, one of the many struggles that have been vocalized at these GSA meetings, is blatant disregard for using students’ pronouns, from teachers and students alike. For one teacher in question, they were spoken to by the advisor of the club, Tagg, and seem to be behaving better. 

Another struggle that students have faced is blatant homophobia and the usage of slurs towards students of different genders and sexualities. Several students have admitted to being called the “f-slur”, “t-slur”, and “d-slur”, here at Capital High School. In fact, in 2019, GSA posters were vandalized with these slurs on them with nothing done towards the situation. 

As previously mentioned, Day of Silence is a day to show the impact of each and every person’s voice and to put the focus on the struggles LGBTQ+ people have encountered, and that can often be a lot, which makes Day of Silence such a powerful and important day. If you or someone you know is struggling with LGBTQ+ issues and want to reach out, the Trevor Project is an organization made for and by LGBTQ+ folks and can be reached by calling at 1-866-488-7386 or by text by texting “start” to 678-678.