One Week to 2004 Day of Silence: 250,000 Students to Protest Bias Against GLBT Peers

One Week to 2004 Day of Silence: 250,000 Students to Protest Bias Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Peers

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Contact: Michelle Sims of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, 212-727-0135, ext. 138 or msims@glsen.org

NEW YORK, April 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, is pleased to announce that an estimated record-setting 250,000 students in over 2,600 high schools and colleges in all 50 states are expected to take part in a Day of Silence to be observed on Wednesday, April 21. Due to some school calendars, students in some cities will be observing the Day of Silence today, April 14. The Day of Silence is a national student-led effort in which participants take a vow of silence to peacefully protest the discrimination and harassment faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth in schools.

"It is with overwhelming pride and excitement that GLSEN once again prepares to coordinate the Day of Silence," said GLSEN Executive Director Kevin Jennings. "All of us at GLSEN are moved and inspired by the record-setting number of students who will be silently, yet powerfully, standing up for themselves, their peers and the ideals of safe and effective schools for all."

A Day of Silence Student Leadership Team, consisting of 22 student organizers from across the country, is working to coordinate activities on local and state levels. Many are organizing "Breaking the Silence" rallies, events at which students come together at the Day's end to express themselves and share their experiences with guest speakers and members of their local communities. Currently there are plans to hold these events in several cities nationwide including New York City, Chicago, Boston, Denver, Austin, Kansas City, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Portland, Albany, and the Minneapolis / St. Paul area.

GLSEN's 2003 National School Climate Survey found that more than 4 out of 5 LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and nearly 30 percent report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety. The Day of Silence is one way students and their allies are making anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and name-calling unacceptable in America's schools.

For more information on events, a list of schools in your area participating in the 2004 Day of Silence or to locate national spokespersons and/or local students for interviews, please contact GLSEN's media relations specialist Michelle Sims at 212-727-0135, ext. 138 or msims@glsen.org.

The Day of Silence, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in collaboration with the United States Student Association (USSA), is a student-led day of action where those who support making anti-LGBT bias unacceptable in schools take a day-long vow of silence to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment -- in effect, the silencing -- experienced by LGBT students and their allies. The Day of Silence was founded in 1996 by students at the University of Virginia, and in years since has become a landmark national event. In 2003, over 200,000 students in nearly 2,000 K -- 12 schools and 400 colleges and universities participated in the Day of Silence. For more information and a complete collection of organizing materials, log on to http://www.dayofsilence.org.

GLSEN, or the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. Established nationally in 1995, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. For more information on GLSEN's educational resources, public policy agenda, student organizing programs or development initiatives, visit http://www.glsen.org.

GLSEN's 2003 National School Climate Survey found that more than 4 out of 5 LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and nearly 30 percent report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety.

An excerpt from "Release of 2003 National School Climate Survey Sheds New Light on the Experiences of LGBT Students in America’s Schools"

"... "This year’s findings clearly demonstrate that despite modest measurable gains, violence, bias and harassment of LGBT students continues to be the rule, not the exception, in America’s schools," said GLSEN Executive Director Kevin Jennings. "This research reveals what must be inherent to so many educators and parents: harassment has a negative impact on LGBT students’ academic performance and college ambitions. To ignore these numbers is an irresponsible message to all students that any promise of equal access to education remains forged and fictitious..."
"These numbers are a wake-up call - and a direct challenge - to the 41 states that so far remain without policies that explicitly protect LGBT students. We know that such policies, when fully implemented, are having a positive impact," continued Jennings. "GLSEN continues to lead efforts to institute and implement policies that work, promote successful in-school programs, and empower our nation’s educators with tools and knowledge that will lead to safe and effective classrooms for all students."
GLSEN’s National School Climate Survey is the only national survey to document the experiences of LGBT students in America’s schools and has been conducted bi-annually since 1999. This year’s survey includes responses from 887 LGBT middle and high school students from 48 states and the District of Columbia."

Only 887 students in 48 states, plus DC? That's 18 students per state. If this problem is as widespread as GLSEN claims, why aren't there thousands of complaints in every state? Given GLSEN's national influence as the fifth largest homosexual "rights" organization, they could get only 877 responses to their survey?

New Study Indicates Gays and Lesbians Prone To Psychological Symptoms and Substance Abuse--But School Harassment Rates Not Higher for Gay Males

"... But bullying at school, the study noted, was reported no more often by gay men than by heterosexual men. Reports that gay men and lesbians are disproportionately vulnerable to school harassment "are often taken at face value," the researchers noted, with researchers failing to draw a comparison to heterosexual students, who--at least in this study--were found to suffer similar high rates of school bullying and harassment..."

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