Every year on April 15 the world gets a little quieter for Day of Silence. Day of Silence is a nation wide event to bring attention to anti-LGBT harassment and bullying. It’s a day of silence to display how LGBTQ+ voices can be silenced because of these abuses.

The first Day of Silence was held in 1996 when students at University of Virginia got the idea from a class assignment about non-violent protests. In 1997, the second Day of Silence, almost 100 universities and colleges took part. In 2001 GLSEN, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, became the official sponsor of the event.

To people not participating, it may not seem like much, however, for people in the LGBT community and people participating, it is so much more.

“Day of Silence is an incredibly important event to the LGBTQ+ community as a whole because it brings awareness to the bullying/harassment LGBTQ+ youth are often subjected to. It’s too often ignored nowadays that individuals who identify as not straight and/or not cisgender are still bullied and harassed. In account of this, and I think that Day of Silence, being such a substantial thing as it is, is a great way to draw attention to this,” junior and PROUD member Chris Forrester said.

For more information, visit http://www.dayofsilence.org