Just because I’ve had to deal with this shit all day, and the day’s not even halfway over.
I have little to say, except that I feel that the National Day of Silence is complete and utter ridiculous bullshit.
The end. 
So people go around all day without speaking? How does that raise awareness?
I mean, if it wasn’t for this thread, I wouldn’t know what the deal is, so someone at the store refusing to speak to me would be considered an ‘asshole’, not an activist.
How, exactly, is it bullshit?
Esprix
Enlightening.
As for the actual subject, this page should explain why silence is used.
As a gay man, I gotta say it’s bullshit, too. Silence has for too long been the enemy of gay people: silence about our identities, silence about our rights, silence in the face of injustice.l
Silence as a tool of protest is particularly stupid. What is needed is for more people to speak up in defense of the rights of gay folk. not to stay silent.
I really detest clumsy symbolism as much as I do ineffective protest tactics.
I dunno, I think it has some validity. Wearing a t-shirt and passing out cards, as we did here at the University, plus having a silent rally in the middle of the food court at lunchtime, sparked some awareness. I rather like the idea of standing silent so the Matthew Shepards and Harvey Milks and Brandon Teenas and so many others are not forgotten.
(Disclaimer: I did not participate in the day because of the nature of my job, but would have liked to.)
Esprix
gobear did a great job of covering all of the bases. Nothing is silencing me, and if something was, how is silence going to effectively combat it?
As to the dayofsilence.org reasoning for why silence is used, I don’t buy it.
Thank you gobear- Exactly what I meant, but much more eloquently stated.
It worked on you, didn’t it?
There is more to it than silence. It is silence along with written explanations for the silence. It seems to work, and it pisses of right-wingers, so bonus.
Personally, I find choosing silence in solidarity of those who are forcibly silenced and in memory of those who historically were silenced to be a fairly powerful statement. YMMV.
No, it didn’t.
As I stated above, had it not been for this thread, I never would have known, because nobody said anything. The lady at the tollbooth this afternoon didn’t say anything…was she an activist, or just not in the mood to talk?
Spit, unless she handed you a card or was wearing an identifying t-shirt or in some other way indicated she was taking part in the NDoS, then she just thought you smelled funny.*
Esprix
[sub]*Well that’s what she told me! [/sub]
Y’know…we wrestled with this issue at my schools GSA meeting last week, and came to the conclusion not to participate as a group. The decision mostly came from the fact that in a completely middle-of-the-road high school, all it’s gonna do is get us mocked by other students and possibly punished by teachers (which was an issue with a student last year of NDoS). I think it’s a nice idea, don’t think it’s very effective.
I’ll bet the slogans are easy to remember!
Never heard of it until just now. Good cause. Curious approach.
I feel so much better knowing that there are more people who think like this. I got bitched out something awful for “abandoning people” by not participating in this. I understand the idea of the symbolism, but I don’t think it’s going to be a terribly effective thing to do. No one is going to care if random person they have no interaction with isn’t speaking today. Far more is accomplished (in so many areas of life) by saying things than by standing around quietly waiting for people to figure out what you mean by that.
Well duh. There was nothing to hear. 
I think it’s well-intentioned, but i don’t think it’s very effective. I don’t think any homophobic assholes are going to change their mind because of it.
First of all, at least as far as what I’ve observed, it’s not necessarily about “waiting for people to figure out what you’re doing” - if someone wants to talk to you, you don’t speak, but instead hand them a card explaining why you’re silent. Second, it’s not about “random people,” it’s about people you actually do interact with - your students, your coworkers, whatever.
I’ve never seen this as an approach to reach massive amounts of people all at once, but a real way to touch someone one-on-one.
IMHO.
Esprix
It was actually very effective at my school. Before today I would’ve thought that a vast majority of students at my school were, for lack of a better term, “homophobes.” The National Day of Silence was advertised on flyers around school and on the morning announcements. Many students were silent the whole day, others just chose to wear the T-Shirts or stickers. Many more students put on stickers as the day progressed, too. This is the first year we’ve had a GSA at our school, and it still only has a few members. This day accomplished something I thought I’d never see happen at my school: it was socially acceptable to be openly tolerant of LGBT, etc.
I don’t really think the idea of being quiet is particularly meaningful or a very good symbol, but in place of any sort of day that recognizes all different kinds of sexuality, this occassion was very successful.