Students were silent to protest bullying due to sexuality during SDA’s annual Day of Silence on Tuesday, April 19. “The Day of Silence is a national student-run event to call attention to anti-LGBT bullying and harassment, it serves as an eye opener that anti-gay bullying is real,” said senior Katherine Joplin, president of SDA’s Gay-Straight Alliance, which organized the event.

Students wore buttons, stickers, or even tape over their mouths to show their support for gay rights or other larger issues. GSA supplied two kinds of placards, one that said “Today I am silent to protest violence against homosexuals, transsexuals, and alternative sexualities,” in order to support gay rights, and signs reading, “Today I am in silence in protest of…” for students who wanted to support broader issues, according to Joplin.

Students who participated were silent for the day to represent the struggles that LGBT students face. “It is like putting yourself in someone else’s shoes to understand their struggle,” said junior Annie Taribini.

The event also serves as a way for the school to come together as a community. “It brings attention to how many people are supportive [of this issue and others like it],” said Taribini.