National Day of Silence 4/17/2009

Friday, April 17, 2009 = National Day of Silence

What are you doing tomorrow? Are you standing up to the bullying, bashing and prejudices of our Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community...primarily our young ones that face these challenges and often hide in solitude? Are you taking the pledge to be silent with the millions of other people in our community, to show others the silent that GLBT kids (and adults) go through on a day to day basis? Are you fighting the fight with me? Do this for OUR children, OUR nieces and nephews, OUR grandchildren, OUR aunts and uncles... ask yourself if you are willing to fight if this was for one of YOUR loved ones. Now ask yourself, "why am I not stepping up now?"

Did you know:

• Nearly one-fourth of students from elementary through high school have reported that they have been harassed or bullied on school property because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.-2001-2002 California Student Survey
• Six out of 10 American teens witness bullying at least once a day. -National Crime Prevention Council, 2003
• One out of every 10 students who drops out of school does so because of repeated bullying. -Oklahoma Health Department, 2001
• Harassment and bullying have been linked to 75 percent of school-shooting incidents. -US Secret Service Report, May 2002
• 85% of teachers oppose integrating lesbian, gay and bisexual themes in their curricula.
• Students who describe themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered are five times more likely to miss school because of feeling unsafe. 28% are forced to drop out.
• Gay and lesbian youth are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than other youths, and 30 percent of all completed youth suicides are related to the issue of sexual identity. -Report to the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide

Did you also know that some of the key figures of our past and present have come out as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender? Some of these individuals are icons...icons that might shock you. Yet our history books and historical fiction books overlook this. Why? Is there shame in being GLBT? A very special person in MY (and some of your) life once told me, "You know being straight is not always perfect"... touché.
Here is that list: *Sorry their name ran together and I am to lazy to fix it!*

Sara Josephine Baker Barry Manilow
Chad Allen Michelangelo
Lance Bass George Michael
Leonardo Da Vinci Many actors & actresses from Bewitched
Brian Graden Morrissey
Neil Patrick Harris Rosie O'Donnell
Eleanor Roosevelt Alexander the Great
James Dean Lily Tomlin
Ellen Degeneres Gianni Versace
Paul Lynde Anderson Cooper
Angelina Jolie Glenn Burke
Dave Kopay David Pichler
Socrates Julius Caesar
Marie Antoinette Pope John XII
Hans Christian Andersen

I am sure together we could come up with thousands or our favorite people... even non-fiction from our favorite tv and movies!

Please take a minute and watch these short you-tube clips. I vow to be silent for my friends and family...