Youth (left) and GLSEN founder and Executive Director Kevin Jennigs at Chicago's 'Day of Silence, Night of Noise' GLBT youth event. Photos by Tracy Baim
Some wore bright yellow tee shirts reading "Day of Silence: Night of Noise." Others had rainbow ribbons, rainbow shoelaces, pins or buttons. These high school students were making it clear they were queer-friendly.
About 350 students, school staff, and queer community members from all over the Chicagoland area, gathered at the Thompson Center on April 21 to break their Day of Silence—a nationwide youth movement that protests the silence faced by LGBT people who experience harassment, prejudice, and discrimination.
These students and their allies joined about 200,000 people across the U.S. in taking a vow of silence, according to Kevin Jennings, the executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. He came to Chicago's rally because he was told 'this is where it was happening.'
During the school day, queer students and their allies did not talk in class, didn't speak in the lunchroom, and didn't gossip in the halls. Instead, students passed out note cards to classmates explaining their vow of silence.
For some, like Jordan Schepler, 16, this meant coming out at large for the first time to his peers. When he gave out cards to other students at Downers Grove South High School explaining what he was doing, Schepler said he faced some harassment. 'They called me fag, but then my friends came and stood up for me.'
Perscella Figueroa, a junior at Curie Metro High School, said going to school each day was 'harsh' for her. 'They call me a he-she, a fag, a queen,' she said. The Day of Silence gave her the chance to 'reverse being called anything.'
As Richard Rykhus, Co-Chair of GLSEN Chicago, said to the students, 'You're brave enough to brave silence.' Though he said schools still had much to work on to be supportive of all their students, Rykhus said he was proud to announce 15 new gay-straight alliances in Chicago High Schools.
River Forest High School in Oak Park had a quiet day, with about 452 students out of 3,000 participating. 'It's just amazing,' said teacher Linda Carlson.
The students, some holding candles, others carrying signs with slogans such as 'A teacher you know is gay' and 'We want safe schools' broke their silence with the rallying cry, 'It's time to make a change.'
They heard from GLSEN and saw performances from About Face Youth Theatre, Chicago Kings, Raw Works Poets, and Lickity Spilt radical cheerleaders, among others. The groups encouraged pride and drew on safety and comfort issues in schools.
'We're giving them a chance to make some noise after being quiet all day and come together as a queer and straight supportive community,' said Aren Drehobl, GLSEN program director.