A 14-year-old male eighth grader at Tavares Middle School in Lake County, Florida brought home a printed note last Friday, given to him by his teacher, encouraging him to participate in the “Day of Silence.”  GLSEN, which stands for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, designated Friday, April 27 as “a student-led national event where folks take a vow of silence to highlight the silencing and erasure of LGBTQ people at school.”

Some of the GLSEN coercion includes allowing students “supportive” of “Day of Silence” to refrain from verbal participation in classroom instruction, while those who do not participate in “Day of Silence” must prepare to answer class questions. The middle school student’s note from his teacher read: “I’m staying silent on GLSEN’s Day of Silence. It’s a national youth movement highlighting the silencing and erasure of LGBTQ people at school. Nearly 4 in 5 LGBTQ students don’t see positive LGBTQ representation in their curriculum, nearly 9 in 10 experience verbal harassment, and almost a third miss school for feeling unsafe or uncomfortable. READ MORE