By: Ginnie Lo
The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) Day of Silence took place on Apr. 27 at MHS to honor closeted people in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) community, True Colors President William Gutierrez said. Participants taped their mouths for the whole day and had the option to write a message on their tape, Gutierrez continued.
True Colors officers felt that this event would create empathy in the accepting environment of MHS, Gutierrez stated. The club hoped that GLSEN’s Day would unify students, he continued.
“[The club and the participants] decided to cover their mouths and not talk to represent the silence of the closeted people in the LGBTQ+ community,” Gutierrez said. “This shows how closeted people are living daily because they can’t be themselves.”
The idea occurred to True Colors Secretary Xander Ricos through a Google search and hearing True Colors Co-Advisor Brett Webber mention it, Ricos said. He thought the event would be memorable for MHS students, Rico continued.
“I wrote ‘Day of Silence’ on my tape,” Ricos said. “Others chose to write ‘I choose to stay silent on this day because’ or they just used rainbow tape in the shape of a cross. [Participating] puts you into a lot of perspectives and makes you really grateful for having a voice.”
Other inspirations came from online videos such as one from a school in North Carolina, True Colors Treasurer Ethan To said. Overall planning for the event took two weeks, he added.
“About 20 to 30 people participated,” To said. “I wrote ‘GLSEN’s Day of Silence’ on my tape. A lot of other ones I know wrote ‘I stay silent’ or ‘fight for my rights.’ [The event] was small this year but we definitely want to make it bigger next year.”
Ricos hopes that next year True Colors can make GLSEN’s Day into an original project, he said. The idea is similar to Gay–Straight Alliance’s (GSA) Youtube videos, Ricos added.
“[The video] didn’t follow through,” Ricos stated. “That’s definitely something we want to do for our members next year, and we’re still finding our footing since it’s our first year as a club. We definitely want to incorporate our members a bit more and have them feel like they’re a part of something regardless of their identity.”
Webber hopes that next year there will be more publicizing for GLSEN’s Day, he said. Publicizing more in advanced with other teachers will allow them to prepare lessons that do not require students to speak, Webber continued.
“I tried to not speak by writing things on the board,” Webber stated. “I had to break my silence because it’s actually very difficult to go through a day without speaking. There were also certain concepts where I couldn’t just write on the board and I actually had to explain to compromise my philosophy in order to be able to fulfill my responsibility as a teacher.”
For next year, Ricos wants more to people participate in events similar to GLSEN Day, he said. All students are welcomed at True Colors regardless of their identity and status, Ricos added.
“[The club is] an environment where we want everyone to show their true colors,” Ricos said. “Participating in GLSEN’s Day of Silence is worth it because it shows that many kids don’t have the simple luxury of saying who you are, introducing yourself, and just being you. It makes it all the more enticing to be a high schooler at MHS.”