Breaking the silence.

Yesterday, I got my first speeding ticket ever. I was going 63 in a 45 (the guy 'clocked me going 64, but it was 63 before it locked'; whatever) and I have the ticket and everything, which I'm not wild about contesting, but nowhere does the ticket say how much I have to pay to get it paid for. I'm sure I could get it kicked, because half the time the officer doesn't show up anyway and blah blah blah, but I really don't feel like tempting the wrath of whatever from high atop the thing two days before my Washington trip. Anyway, if I pay it and go to traffic school, they don't report it to my insurance company, right? Right? I hope not, because I can't afford to pay insurance as it is, so if my rates go up, I'll just have to go back to walking everywhere or bumming rides from people. Sucks.

Anyway, the officer, like any good civil servant who is regularly amazed when the government's checks don't bounce, took his damn time with all the paperwork, like, dude, just give me the ticket already. I'm obviously in a hurry. You're just making me mad. I guess he did it so I had a lot of time to think about things. I had turned off the radio for effect, so I sat in silence for awhile, watching the guy write things in my side mirror. I had plenty of time to think about a lot of things. Silence is good for that, it seems.

Silence in an effort to promote thought is also the goal of the Day of Silence Project, a national student-organized movement to protest discrimination and harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgenered people and their allies. Participants in the Day of Silence try to spend their entire school day in silence. Their deliberate silence echoes the silence caused by ignorance and hatred and serves as a means to promote discussion and debate.

This year's Day of Silence was held April 9, 2003. Our school participated, despite the fact that the administration felt the activity was 'inappropriate' for secondary-level students. I'd be interested to know what makes Alabama high schoolers less equipped to handle something like this than high schoolers anywhere else in the country, but this is the same guy who told us we couldn't watch the news on September 11th because we weren't mature enough and who told us the other day that he hopes that none of us want to be independent. Nice.

All in all, about fifteen of our school's twelve hundred or so students participated in the effort, although I don't think anyone made it through the entire day without talking (it's hella hard). These fifteen students knew they had to stand up for what they believed in, even if they were standing (relatively) alone.

They faced ignorance, disbelief, annoyance, harassment, and other stupid hassles from students and teachers alike, which is sad, but then, that's the whole point of the Day of Silence.

The Day of Silence is not about supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people necessarily. Rather, it is about ending discrimination and harassment, against these and all other groups that face such treatment. Unfortunately, there are going to be people too thick-headed to separate the two issues and religious fanatics who don't care what you say because they'll cling to the same handful of Biblical references they've always spouted, but then there will be people who are receptive to these efforts or who will at least want to discuss the issue.

The thick-headed people are a byproduct of our shoddy public education system or their own voluntary ignorance. As for the Bible-thumpers, I seem to remember some verses about loving thy neighbor and letting he who is without sin cast the first stone.

It's the receptive and curious people who want to talk that will provide for the most interesting conversations. Some of them already know that there's nothing wrong with being gay; others may not agree, but they'll at least give you that no one should be harassed for any reason, including sexual orientation.

I guess I've just never understood the need or desire to make fun of or belittle people just because they're different from me. Variety is the spice of life, after all, and any well-read Bible-thumper will tell you that God made everyone in His image, so we all turned out exactly the way he wanted us to.

In the end, this isn't much of an entry. I simply wanted to point out that the Day of Silence is doing good work. It's an important message and the people at GLSEN deserve a pat on the back for their efforts to 'create safe schools for all.'

I don't want to go into the whole religion debate or give the full-court press on why there's nothing wrong with gay people, so I'll just end this by pointing out that it's not the Day of Not Communicating with Anyone At All. It's the Day of Silence. That means you can write whatever the hell you want. You can make gestures, smile, dance a jig, whatever, as long as you don't use your vocal cords. That said, shut up, second period.

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So, two really deep entries in a row, huh? You know I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't important. At any rate, I'll try to make the next one a little lighter.