Lance Bass, the openly gay former member of N'Sync, is speaking out in support of GLBT youth with a new PSA to raise awareness about the 12th annual Day of Silence. On April 25th thousands of students across the U.S. will take a vow of silence as a way to protest the bullying, harassment and discrimination that gay kids face in schools.
This year the Day of Silence is dedicated to Lawrence King, the 15 year old openly gay student who was gunned down by a classmate in February for being gay.
Students will hand out "Speaking Cards" which say
Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies in schools. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by name-callinmg, 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?
The 2005 National School Climate Survey by GLSEN found that 4 out of 5 LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and more than 30% report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety.
It is pretty damn amazing to me that with it essentially being open season for attacks at GLBT youth that activists are too busy fighting one another to spend more time defending gay kids.
Editors' note: Did you like this post? Please help us out by voting for The Bilerico Project as the Best LGBT Blog in the 2008 Weblog Awards! You don't have to sign up for anything, or even leave our site - just click on "The Bilerico Project." Thank you so much!
Share
Like what you read? Subscribe to The Bilerico Project by Email.
Want others to read it too? Use the buttons and links here to share this entry with others. (Move your cursor over a button or link to learn more about it.)
5 Comments
« Big Sky Country Gets Bigger | Home | Taking Sex Tape Requests! »
Lawrence King was not JUST "openly gay." We all need to be careful and avoid minimizing the "gender identity" part of his personality.
MonicaHelms | April 21, 2008 12:48 PM
Reply to this comment
Are there any non-openly-gay members of N'SYNC? That phrase seems so redundant to me! ;^)
Serena Freewomyn | April 21, 2008 4:04 PM
Reply to this comment
The explosive growth of GLSEN/GSA groups on high school campuses is a huge step forward for our GLBT movements. It’s creating a huge pool of new activists untarnished by political compromise and willing to go the distance for full equality.
They are less than patient with candidates of the parties of bigotry, war and economic collapse and will carry those sentiments with them as they help reinvigorate our struggle for full equality.
Bill Perdue | April 21, 2008 8:27 PM
Reply to this comment
Re that PSA: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
..so nice of Lance Bass to show up.
Eric Leven | April 22, 2008 1:05 AM
Reply to this comment
Agreed, Eric.
Bil Browning | April 22, 2008 5:17 PM
Reply to this comment