It’s a day to say gay—and lesbian, bi, transgender, and queer! GLSEN’s annual Day of Silence has been rebranded this year as the Day of (No) Silence, a time for LGBTQ students and their allies to take action against anti-LGBTQ harassment and discrimination in schools.
A new study of LGBTQ parents found that two-thirds of the participants—and especially trans parents—said their children experienced structural and/or interpersonal stigma at school. The parents, however, shared a variety of proactive and reactive ways they worked to prevent or offset such stigma.
Anti-LGBTQ actions and rhetoric have been on the rise for several years now, but this week seems to have been particularly awful. How can we support ourselves, our children, and the LGBTQ community through these tough times?
Like many of us, I have been saddened and angered by the death of 16-year-old nonbinary transgender student Nex Benedict after an assault at school. Nex’s death is a tragedy—and Nex is not the only trans young person to have died too soon.
Things are always pretty purple here at Mombian, but I’m feeling extra purple today for Spirit Day, GLAAD’s annual event to show support for LGBTQ youth and speak out against bullying—which to my mind includes both personal bullying and the sweeping bullying of anti-LGBTQ laws and rhetoric.
Listen to the silence. As part of a national student-led demonstration, youth from middle grades to college are choosing to remain silent today, the GLSEN Day of Silence, to protest the harm caused by harassment and discrimination towards LGBTQ people in schools.
Like many in the LGBTQ community, I am still grieving over those murdered at Club Q in Colorado Springs last month. I am also thinking about how much anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has created a climate in which such violence can germinate, and how much a purported concern over children’s well-being has played into that rhetoric. We need to reclaim the narrative of what it means to think of the children.
I’m wearing my best purple flannel and hoodie today in honor of Spirit Day, GLAAD’s annual event to speak out against anti-LGBTQ bullying and stand with LGBTQ youth. Bullying can come from peers, teachers, coaches, or even, awfully, parents—but the virulent anti-LGBTQ legislation, book bans, and curriculum restrictions around the country are also a form of bullying. That means this Spirit Day is more important than ever.
GLSEN’s latest biennial National School Climate Survey (NSCS), released today, has found few positive changes for LGBTQ students in the past two years, with 82 percent of LGBTQ students feeling unsafe at school, and almost all hearing anti-LGBTQ remarks, many from teachers and staff. What can we do about this?
Today marks the Day of Silence, when many students from middle grades to college choose to remain silent to protest the harm caused by harassment and discrimination of LGBTQ people in schools. This year, with a record number of anti-LGBTQ bills hitting young people especially hard, this silence needs to resonate more loudly than ever.
