Day of Silence is an annual day of action organised to spread awareness about how bullying and harassment of members of the LGBTQ affect them. Students observe a day-long vow of silence to symbolically represent the silencing of LGBTQ students. The Day of Silence is held each year in April since 1996. Day of Silence 2020 will be organised on April 24. The day is organised by GLSEN, a United States-based education organisation working to end discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on one's sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. They encourage LGBT cultural inclusion and awareness in K-12 schools. According to GLSEN, hundreds of thousands of students at more than 8,000 schools participated in the 2008 Day of Silence. What is The Full Form of LGBTQ?

Student Maria Pulzetti who organised the event at the University of Virginia in 1996. Pulzetti explained, "I wanted to do something for BGLAD week that would impact many people at the school and that would be very visible...I knew that if we held panel discussions and events like that, the only people who would come would be the people who already were fairly aware." A Glossary of Terms Associated With the LGBTQ Community.

In 1997, almost 100 colleges and universities participated in Day of Silence. In the past years, over 10,000 participants have registered their participation with GLSEN. Most of them are in middle schools, high schools, colleges, or universities. Other than students from 50 states in the US, students from countries including New Zealand, Singapore, and Russia participate in this event.

However, the day has been criticised by quite a lot of people and organisations like the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Mission America, Traditional Values Coalition have been against observing Day of Silence. The claim that the member students promote homosexuality in public schools creating a hostile environment for students of faith.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 09, 2020 02:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).