GLBTQ speech needs protection

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People who are outside the political process have always used alternative means to make their voices heard. African-Americans held passive protests during the Civil Rights Movement, women’s suffrage activists took silent carriage rides through the early western towns.

Minorities, be it racial, political or sexual, have no choice; they cannot make their voices heard at the polls or through letter-writing campaigns. A minority cannot elect one of their own to a seat in Congress without a lot of help from people outside the movement, and outsiders cannot be recruited without that great American tradition of protests. Men and women in the 1950s sat at lunch counters to show they should have the right to sit there anytime they want.

Now, when gays and lesbians are the single most oppressed and unprotected group in this country, students everywhere took a Day of Silence to symbolize the silence in which some students live everyday. They didn’t speak to show their fellow classmates what the life of a gay student is like. They did not throw bombs, did not even march the school hallways. They simply didn’t speak for an entire day.

And now, after an attempt to show solidarity and support for a group that has almost no representation at all, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which organized the silent protest, may be the victim of a lawsuit by so-called “pro-family” groups.

“This is an assault on our school system by terrorists,” said Rabbi David Eidensohn, National Non-Sectarian Council of Pro-Family Activists director.

“The financial damage due to lost school time throughout the country will be enormous. We cannot, however, talk about money alone. The disruption of as school atmosphere, especially toward the end of the year, when discipline in schools is a challenge, could kill a year of learning for many students,” Eidensohn said.

Terrorists?

These students, who simply did not speak for day, did nothing that some of their classmates don’t do everyday. Ostracism is rampant in high schools, and the first to go are usually the GLBTQ students. If these students do not speak on any normal day, does anyone notice?

No, no one cares. The only way to begin the process of legislation and litigation that will eventually lead to equal protection under the law is awareness. Until the straight community is aware of the pain and exclusion of GLBTQ high school students, there will never be change.

Maybe the “pro-family” groups do not condone the private practices of these students, which is their right. But I can’t imagine that the members of these groups condone the beatings, the rapes and the taunting that these students experience on a day to day basis. I can’t imagine the groups would enjoy knowing that they caused one more suicide or one more drug addiction among the people they are trying to “save” from themselves.

The NDOS was intended to make straight people aware of what their fellow-classmates go through every day. It was intended as a chance for those who want equal rights and equal protection to show their support for a group that is silent for no reason other then that it fears for its safety.

The NDOS is a necessary step toward acceptance of an entire group of people. If the “pro-family” groups succeed in their crusade to persecute GLSEN, they will effectively be dealing a heavy blow to American idealism and supporting the hatred and abuse of millions of people.

If the under-represented cannot peacefully protest as a way to promote their cause, some other groups that call themselves “pro-family” such as the KKK and neo-Nazi purists will have won another battle. And we can no longer call ourselves Americans.