The student news site of Westwood High School.

Westwood Horizon
The student news site of Westwood High School.

Westwood Horizon
The student news site of Westwood High School.

Westwood Horizon

Gay-Straight Alliance Hosts Day of Silence

Mackenzie Farkus, Editor in Chief
April 14, 2014

On April 11, the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) hosted the Day of Silence, a day of action to protest bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) students in the cafetorium at 8:30 a.m. Organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in 1996, students took a day-long vow of silence to represent the silencing of LGBT+ students and their supporters. Currently, more than 8,000 schools participate annually in Day of Silence.

Students remained silent throughout the day to emphasize the silencing of LGBT+ students due to bullying. However, some people view Day of Silence as an ineffective means of protesting for LGBT+ rights.

“I feel like students can be misinformed about how to participate in Day of Silence, and that’s when it can be ineffective,” sophomore Kylie Shannon said. “They think it’s about staying silent or at least using hand signals. We actually spoke about this in GSA last year; you have to withdraw yourself and act like you only have yourself to trust.”

Day of Silence shirts were sold by the GSA in the cafeteria for $10 throughout the week.
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About the Contributor
Mackenzie Farkus
Mackenzie Farkus, Editor in Chief
Hi, I’m Mackenzie Farkus,  Editor-in-Chief 2014-2016. I’m a lifelong bookworm, I love to travel, and I collect vinyl and comics. I’ve lived in Seattle, WA, Atlanta, GA, and a very tiny town in NC. After Westwood, I’ll attend Simmons College in Boston, MA, where I am majoring in Communications.
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