On Friday, April 25, many students in Iowa and throughout the nation will participate in a national "Day of Silence," an annual event held to bring attention to name-calling, bullying and harassment toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth in schools. It comes as little surprise that the passive activity has Chuck Hurley, president of the socially conservative Iowa Family Policy Center, encouraging Iowa's faithful to spend the day praying for the "healing" of gay students. It seems, however, that Hurley's call to action is merely the tip of the iceberg.
"I have received many phone calls and emails voicing understandable frustration about this event," Hurley wrote in an email to supporters. "Admittedly, the promotion (especially to children) of such a harmful lifestyle that is directly contrary to God's perfect design provokes righteous anger in me also. The question then becomes, what do we do with our anger that will bring glory and honor to God?"
While acknowledging that this year's Day of Silence event is being held in memory of Lawrence King, a gay 15-year-old Californian who died at the hands of a classmate in February, Hurley calls on supporters to not remain passive.
"By Christ's example, we are clearly not to remain passive," Hurley wrote. "Jesus did not throw his hands in the air and turn away when he saw sin in the world. Instead, he came into the world with his arms wide open. He made no excuse for sin, teaching that, 'Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.' (Matthew 5:19) Jesus was clear that certain behaviors are unacceptable to God, yet people flocked to him because he also made it clear that God loves them in spite of sin. Jesus' love for sinners does not equate to acceptance of sin, but to a deep and passionate desire to redeem them from it."
Students participating in the Day of Silence are encouraged to carry slips of paper that read:
Silent for Lawrence King
Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment. This year’s DOS is held in memory of Lawrence King, a 15 year-old student who was killed in school because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today.
Although King died outside of Iowa, a school climate survey released by the Iowa Pride Network in January showed that Iowa's LGBT students continue to feel unsafe in school and that they face verbal and physical harassment or assault daily. Nine in 10, or 91 percent, of LGBT students in Iowa reported hearing homophobic remarks frequently in their schools. More than a third of the students reported some incident of physical harassment (being pushed or shoved) because of their sexual orientation; while nearly 16 percent of students reported some incident of physical assault (being punched, kicked or injured with a weapon) because of their sexual orientation or gender expression.
"This is just really disturbing," said Ryan Roemerman, director of the Iowa Pride Network. "This email sent out by Hurley, if anything, just speaks to the issues that the Day of Silence addresses."
Roemerman said that because of calls he's received from youth throughout the state in relation to the Day of Silence, that he believes there is a "coordinated effort" aimed at preventing students from using their right to free expression.
"I received a call from a girl in a small town in the northern portion of the state who said that she's getting pressured from some within the community for her and 20-some youth not to participate in the Day of Silence," he said. "I've had similar calls from other Iowa communities, large and small. Iowa students need to know that they have a right to express themselves, provided it does not disrupt the educational environment."
The calls have come despite Carol Greta of the Iowa Department of Education using space in the April issue of School Leader Update, a monthly newsletter distributed to Iowa school administrators, to explain both the Day of Silence and the opposing Day of Truth. The latter is a project launched in 2005 by the Alliance Defense Fund to "ensure the free speech rights of Christian students" to present an opposing viewpoint to those organizations that they contend promote homosexual behavior in schools. The 2008 Day of Truth is slated for Monday, April 28. In her column, Greta cautions schools not to approve participation in only one of the observance activities.
"Violence, sexism and racism have no place in our schools," Roemerman said. "This student-led Day of Silence was built around drawing awareness to the fact that we have students in our schools who are being assaulted and harassed. If we don't educate homophobic students then they'll just grow up to be homophobic adults -- like Chuck Hurley."
Leave a comment