April 19th was the National Day of Silence, "a student-let action where concerned students take some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to the name-calling, bullying and harassment experienced by LGBT students," according to the Day's sponsor, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Participants wore stickers and buttons to show their support, which were provided by Gay-Straight Alliance adviser and US History teacher Dr. Daniel Carragher, and attempted to spend the entire day without speaking. One of Dr. Carragher's Senior Focus students, Francesca Huttle, has spent her year studying LGBT issues, which happened to include fieldwork at GLSEN; in advance of the Day of Silence, Francesca wrote a piece for GLSEN's blog about her decision to participate for the first time this year, although she has always been one of the "straight allies" and aware of the Day throughout her high school years: http://blog.glsen.org/francesca-huttle-my-days-of-silence/ While she confesses to originally believing that "students used this day to just get out of participating in a class that they did not like, but as I learned more about this day, I realized silence signified something so powerful."

Related to my Focus project, working with GLSEN on the day of silence really helped me because it showed me how organizations today try to help LGBT youth feel safe in their environments. The Day of Silence was created in 1996, and there has only been more involvement since then. A large portion of my Focus project relates to generational differences in the process of coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. As I studied and participated in the Day of Silence, it opened my eyes to the fact that this day was nonexistent decades ago. I believe that because organizations, like GLSEN, have helped LGBT teens feel safer, more teens are able to come out at younger ages and feel comfortable with who they are."