Posted: 4/27/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Patrick Traylor Students listen to keynote speaker Dr. Pauline Park, transgender activist, at the Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Concern's Day of Silence rally on the Quad, Wednesday night. The annual rally serves to push for increased funding for LGBT related programs and course content at the University, as well as raise awareness of LGBT issues on campus.

Jake Hustedt usually participates in class and socializes with friends. Wednesday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., however, he was silent.

Hustedt, along with other members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and their supporters, known as allies, took a vow of silence Wednesday. The participants refrained from speaking whenever possible in conjunction with the Day of Silence, which is part of the ongoing events during LGBT Awareness Month. The Breaking the Silence Rally on the Quad at 5 p.m. ceremoniously broke that silence.

"There is a real reason why we are being silent," Hustedt, junior in LAS, who was forced to speak only once for a class presentation, said. "We don't have equal rights, and I think that's something people lose sight of even within the community."

The silent students, dressed in black, wore rainbow ribbons and passed out cards during the day to explain their silence and state the LGBT community's goals.

Curt McKay, director of the LGBT Concerns Office, said the National Day of Silence began in 1996 at the University of Virginia and has spread across the country and into high schools. Events were first held on campus to observe the Day of Silence in 2001.

"It seems to me that they've gotten bigger each year," he said. "Increasingly, we've gotten more support during the day."

Bridget Geraghty, junior in LAS, was a co-coordinator of the Day of Silence planning committee and has participated in the event for the last two years.

"I've found it a very powerful experience having to silence myself for an entire day," she said. "You don't realize how many people you interact with."

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