Members of the Auburn Gay Straight Alliance stood outside the Student Center Friday getting signatures for their petition and promoting participation in the Day of Silence.
"The petition is to get gender identity put into the Auburn non-discrimination clause," said Adam Gatlin, a member of AGSA. "Right now it covers sex, sexual orientation and race, but it does not cover gender identity. So transgendered individuals can get kicked out of their dorm, failed for no reason or fired from their job if they're working on campus for no reason."
The petition started with the drag show, said Bryan Stisher, senior in history.
The drag show was held April 3.
"We've had it out here to try to get people to sign it, keep the movement going because we got a lot of momentum from the drag show and we want to keep it going," Stisher said.
The petition had almost 130 signatures as of about noon, Stisher said.
Gatlin explained the Day of Silence was started to honor those who have been victims of hate crimes and cannot speak for themselves.
According to the Day of Silence's Web site, the purpose is to show the silencing effects bullying and harassment have on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students.
Sixty-five percent of students who have reported being harassed said it was linked to things including gender appearance, sexual orientation and appearance, according to a report done in 2005 by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
The report goes further by stating 22 percent of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students do not feel safe at school, and 90 percent of them being victims of harassment or assault the year before.
"It's also about people who feel that they can't come out of the closet, who are scared of what other people might think," Stisher said. "It's about stopping hatred and showing solidarity for the people who cannot speak for themselves."
The silence was broken at 3 p.m. by screaming.
"It's to get our voices heard," Stisher said.
AGSA is open to everyone and membership is free.
The group will meet every Wednesday at 7 p.m. until the semester ends.
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