Around campus, it was not hard to notice the stickers, signs and other rainbow garb of LGBT+ allies today as many students and teachers showed their support for their friends and peers of a non-cisgender or -heterosexual identification or orientation.

Put on by the SDA GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance), Day of Silence encouraged.s students “to be silent for those who may feel silenced in their everyday life. This mostly is in regards to LGBT+ members who are silenced by their peers, whether that be from bullying or just from being too scared to show their true selves,” said junior AJ Hanson, a member of the GSA.

Of the many students who vowed to be silent, each undertook the vow for reasons all their own, based off their own experiences. “Personally, I came out my junior year and was met with nothing but support,” said senior Blake Stoner-Osborne, also a member of the GSA. “While it’s not particularly easy for me to be ‘different’ with regards to my sexuality, I’ve always felt loved and accepted at SDA. Day of Silence, for me, is a way for me to show what SDA has done for me and what it can do for other students because that’s exactly what we are; loving and accepting.”

Similarly, another story regarding Day of Silence was shared by Hanson. “It’s important to me personally because I know so many people who have been bullied for being part of the LGBT+ and have struggled for a long time with being able to accept themselves because of what others say,” Hanson said. “I think it’s important to give those people a day to prove they aren’t alone.”

Although not choosing to be silent, many teachers and students stood in solidarity today as well, whether it was by wearing GSA club shirts or rainbow heart stickers. It was not uncommon to see backs of staff adorned with the words “Who you are is who you are, and who you are is awesome,” a slogan of the Gay-Straight Alliance.

Stoner-Osborne also gave a word of advice to critics of the Day of Silence, anyone who might see the day as unnecessary or choose not to be as enthusiastic in their support of the LGBT+ community: “To any critics, I’d say let participators express themselves and try to keep an open mind,” he said. “Imagine how it feels to be alienated just based on who you happen to love and imagine how it feels to live with judgment because of that for your entire life. Day of Silence is a way for us to put those feelings into a physical action that shows what it’s like.”