ASU may have seemed a bit quieter than usual Wednesday as some students stopped talking in honor of the Day of Silence, a nationally recognized day protesting the discrimination and prejudices against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and their allies.
Students handed out cards explaining that their deliberate silence symbolizes the silence caused by harassment, prejudice and discrimination.
The card reads: "I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices." Fifteen students passed out 1,000 cards.
Supply chain management senior Gabriel Elias said there were a couple of negative responses, including one student who ripped the card in front of him.
Elias said the student told him, "I don't need this queer shit."
"With the negative reactions we need to just smile and move on," said Sam Holdren, a journalism and political science sophomore. "It's pretty testing."
Elias said the cards are most effective when they are handed to people he knows.
"When people talk to me and ask me why I'm not talking, I give them the card. This has the most dramatic effect when it's someone I am close to," Elias said.
The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the silent population, Holdren said.
"There are a lot more silent students on campus than people think," Holdren said. "We also want to make it known to silent students that there is an outlet for them, and there are people like us to support them."
Student participants engaged in a "silent lunch" and a shout out, yelling to break the silence that some individuals face. The participants gathered on Hayden Lawn at 5 p.m. and yelled for a few seconds, breaking the silence they held all day.
"The Day of Silence is important to ASU because a lot of gay issues are silent, and some benefits given to heterosexuals are not given to gays and lesbians," Elias said.
Act Out, a campus organization designed to enact direct political action for gays and other oppressed communities, organized the Day of Silence at ASU.
The national event is held in high schools and colleges April 10. Handing out the cards is a tradition across the country, but every school varies with the event to break the silence.
Reach the reporter at kristin.roberts@asu.edu.
