By RayKisha Vaughn
The Gay Straight Alliance is a club at Loy Norrix High School. It is a club that reaches out to those individuals that may have been harassed and even bullied by their peers and are hiding their identity because of that. Members of the club are supporters for those who want to eliminate this discrimination.
Social Studies teacher Art Williams is the faculty advisor for the Gay Straight Alliance.
The Day of Silence is a very important day especially for high school. It is a way to show your support without having to speak out, and it’s also a chance to show support in a harmless way and at the same time showing your support for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender students [LGBT community]. The concept is to show support without hurting anyone’s feelings.
The Day of Silence took place on April, 22, 2011; it is a national event. The main thing is you don’t have to be gay to support The Day of Silence. It is for anyone.
“As a G.S.A adviser, I strongly support the Day of Silence. The reason I support it is because I see gay or lesbian students struggle in high school,” said Williams.
Many people struggle in silence. That’s the whole point of the Day of Silence. It is students way to show support to the LGBT community.
Junior Jessica Allen who is a proud member of the Gay Straight Alliance had a few things to say about everything that has been happening especially during the Day of Silence. She feels that the whole Day of Silence is a good tribute to those of the LGBT community and that it’s a day of acknowledgement for the people who participate.
“I am happy to say that I’ve been part of the Gay Straight Alliance, and I participate every year,” said Allen. The Day of Silence is a great way to show how many people have been affected by being bullied.”
Allen is a very proud member of the G.S.A at Loy Norrix who also participated in the Day of Silence.
The Day of Silence is a day that is very hard for many people, especially those who are very social and friendly. The reason for the Day of Silence would be challenging to very social people is because their peers might have a big role in their high school career and even outside of school.
Junior Mariah Isaac is one of the three main executives for the G.S.A board here at Loy Norrix High School, and she feels that the G.S.A club is a very safe place to just speak out about how members feel about certain issues and at the same time it creates an accepting environment for saying it and not being judged for what they believe. She also participates in the Day of Silence.
“It’s a very important especially for high school. It is a way to show support with out speaking out. You don’t have to be gay to be apart of the G.S.A club,” said Isaac.
The Day of Silence is a national tradition. It’s a repetition which represents the silence of staying in the closet. This is a day when LGBT and their supporters keep quiet as a form of speech during the whole day of school and then at the end of the day they all meet up at WMU and let out their screams.
