Auburn Gay Straight Alliance and Spectrum Alliance are sponsoring a Day of Silence to support the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans-gendered community.
Tomorrow they are asking students to stay silent and at 5 p.m. on Foy Lawn, they will break the silence.
Katie Rowe, AGSA treasurer and a sophomore majoring in social work, said students are keeping quiet to represent those who are silenced because they do not feel safe enough to come out and to take a stand against discrimination against the LGBT community.
Rowe said they are also trying to get gender identity and gender expression in the nondiscrimination policy so they can be protected on campus.
Free T-shirts and packets were handed out on the Concourse Tuesday and Wednesday in support of the Day of Silence.
The packets contained a pledge card, a ribbon and a pen and paper for those giving up talking for the day. The T-shirts have a space where students can write their own message on the back of their shirts for why they are staying silent.
Rowe said Auburn has participated in the Day of Silence for the past couple of years, and she thinks this year’s will be successful.
“It was fairly effective last year, and hopefully it will have a bigger impact,” Rowe said.
Stephen Davis, a freshman theatre major, said he has participated in the Day of Silence in high school and is excited about doing it at Auburn.
“I’m absolutely enthralled because I think that Auburn has the chance to make a larger impact with in the state than a high school,” Davis said.
Rowe said all change starts at the university level, and they are trying to make Alabama a better place for us all.
Davis said people probably do not realize how many people around them are affected by this type of discrimination and cannot come out.
Andy Holliday, a sophomore art major, said he thinks the Day of Silence will be successful
“It’s a good cause, it’s good because it’s on the path to an open minded environment where people have to stress out less about who they are and focus on being a regular person,” Holliday said.
