April 20th is this year’s Day of Silence, when students all over the country will go silent for the day in protest of the intimidation and harassment of themselves and their gay friends. And the Family Research Council, along with other bigots, want to ban the event. Tony Perkins had a Connecticut pastor on his show who is trying to get a local school board to forbid students from participating in the event and he endorsed the idea:
Loomer: If the board decides they don’t want to take any corrective actions we’re already making plans to call the city families together and just apprise them of the situation. I think the parents will be so appalled at what the Day of Silence could lead their children into that they’re going to want to stand up and say, ‘let’s get rid of this.’ There are alternative programs that focus on disrupting the bullying that goes on in schools but this is one that’s got a serious kickback to it.
…
Perkins: Look, bullying should not be taking place in our schools, every child in America should be able to go to school—public school, private school, wherever—without the fear of threat or being intimidated, regardless of what the cause is, whether they’re overweight, whether their religious viewpoints, no child should be bullied because they are effeminate or because of their sexual orientation or whatever, it shouldn’t happen, but we cannot allow these programs like the Day of Silence to come into our schools as a cover for the promotion of homosexuality. That’s what is happening with this so we appreciate Pastor Loomer and others who are drawing attention to this in communities across the country.
Silly rabbit, free speech is for Christian bigots only.
29 comments
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Area Man
April 17, 2012 at 12:40 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
How do you ban people from being silent?
jamessweet
April 17, 2012 at 12:42 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Isn’t April 20th a bad choice, for a number of different reasons?
JustaTech
April 17, 2012 at 12:50 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
How exactly do you ban students from not speaking? I was under the impression that the students will still respond if called on in class, so how the heck “ban” children from not speaking to each other?
“You! You haven’t said anything in 30 seconds, go to the principal’s office!”
All that does is prove that the adults in charge are idiots.
fifthdentist
April 17, 2012 at 12:54 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“I think the parents will be so appalled at what the Day of Silence could lead their children into …”
Exactly. Tolerance is for fags! Oh, wait.
chrisj
April 17, 2012 at 12:54 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Area Man:
According to the universal source of all knowledge and wisdom, you make them telepathic, so that only continuous speech can prevent them from broadcasting their every thought to everyone in the vicinity. (Galactic Tribunal punishment for the Belcerebon people of Kakrafoon Kappa.)
Bronze Dog
April 17, 2012 at 1:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Christian fundies want to eliminate our freedom of speech, and now that some of us choose to remain silent, they can’t stand it, and want to ban our freedom to not speak. At least some are honest enough to admit that they think we should be punished for daring to exist, instead of playing childish games.
baal
April 17, 2012 at 1:10 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m aghast that there are “pro-bully” people but it’s a consistent thread from FRC and its ilk. I’d be nice if moderate, sensible Christians spoke out against the FRC when it pulls this stuff.
godlesspanther
April 17, 2012 at 1:14 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Don’t speak out against bigotry!
OK — we’ll be silent about it.
Don’t be silent about it!
Yes, not saying anything is persecuting those poor Christians. I’m sure it inflicts great pain on them.
John Hinkle
April 17, 2012 at 1:16 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well sure, because the default state of a privileged member of the majority is bullied and persecuted. Right? Amiright?
These guys sure know how to plumb the depths of un-self-awareness.
Hercules Grytpype-Thynne
April 17, 2012 at 1:25 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Don’t know what your reasons are, but around here the kids aren’t even in school on April 20. It’s Spring Vacation week.
eric
April 17, 2012 at 1:37 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“I think the parents will be so appalled at what the Day of Silence could lead their children into…”
Like paying attention in class?
Look, I support the protest’s concept and goal. But it says something pretty sad about the American education system when ‘not carrying on side conversations in class’ is exceptional, one-day-a-year, form-of-social-protest behavior. It should be the norm.
But it gives me an idea. Starting next year, progressives should have everyone-do-your-homework days of protest. Have such protests 5 days a week! The fundies can complain about how doing one’s homework is an Islamosocialist plot to undermine Real America. And, as a result of their opposition to such protests, in 10-20 years, very few of them will be in charge of anything.
unbound
April 17, 2012 at 1:39 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@Hercules Grytpype-Thynne – I think he’s referring to 420 (big marijuana day) as well as it being a Friday.
In regards to the post, same old xtian extremists. Conveniently forget about jebus’ message of loving all (isn’t that supposed to be the greatest commandment) and emphasizing the nearly non-existent message against homosexuals.
magistramarla
April 17, 2012 at 1:42 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
When I taught, I was the GSA mentor/teacher. On the Day of Silence, my kiddos would wear either all purple or all black and they would carry cards to hand out when people asked them about their silence.
I taught in Texas, and several of their other teachers were offended by it. We planned ahead of time, and I coached them to be polite, put away their cards and participate willingly in class if a teacher insisted, and to continue their cause as soon as they left that classroom.
The GSA does not present porn to students, but they do encourage proper sex education and HIV information. I wasn’t allowed to “teach” this, but our wonderful president of the group saw a need, and took it upon herself to do it. She noticed that the younger members of the group didn’t even know how AIDS is acquired or how to prevent it (thanks to abstinence-only sex ed). She made a power point presentation and taught them herself.
I was so proud!
beezlebubby
April 17, 2012 at 1:44 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Much ado about nothing. The haters will hate, and they will keep hating. I hope they hate so much that they suffer brain hemorrhages from all their fulminating.
Skip White
April 17, 2012 at 1:45 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
April 20th is Hitler’s birthday, and the anniversary of the Columbine shootings.
beezlebubby
April 17, 2012 at 1:46 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@ Unbound: No, not because of weed references, but because 1) Hitler’s birthday, 2) Anniversary of the Oklahoma City fed building bombing, and 3) Anniversary of Columbine. Of the three, I think the latter is the most relevant.
d cwilson
April 17, 2012 at 2:21 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ll bet if Perkins had realized the significance of April 20, he’d have worked in something about how staying silent is just like Hitler.
marcus
April 17, 2012 at 2:44 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Columbine is relevant and also an excellent reason to have this observance on the 20th.
jamessweet
April 17, 2012 at 2:58 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I thought about that… I am not sure if the Columbine anniversary is a pro or a con for this date choice. One way to spin it, as you hint at here, is that this is the most tragic possible outcome of bullying. OTOH… I dunno.
The other reasons I had were Hitler’s birthday, as others pointed out (I can’t believe that one of the Nazis-were-gay wingnuts hasn’t already tried to make something of this connection), and the fact that 4/20 is an unofficial stoner holiday.
It’s just sort of a date that is already laden with associations for a lot of people, so I question whether it’s the best choice. Of course, it is typically held on a Friday, and I guess the other logical choice this year would have been 4/13, which has it’s own problems :D
Taz
April 17, 2012 at 3:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“We have ways of making you talk.”
marcus
April 17, 2012 at 3:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
jamessweet @ 19 Apologies for my certitude. It is certainly possible that a better date could have been picked initially. However, I believe that to change it now might imply aversion and denial.
Larry
April 17, 2012 at 3:35 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
These loons are really losing it. They know their campaign of hate is losing its effectiveness as more and more people come to understand that the only thing wrong with homosexuality is the haters. As a result, they turn to crazier shit like this that cause ever more people to reject them.
timgueguen
April 17, 2012 at 4:15 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Perkins should really change his name given that his namesake, the late actor of Psycho fame, was either bi or gay.
dan4
April 18, 2012 at 12:03 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@3: I hope your “impression” is a correct one. I don’t think most teachers would accept or tolerate students causing problems in their classes by refusing to speak even when called upon, by refusing to give oral presentations they have been assigned to give just because said presentation happens to fall on the Day of Silence, etc.
dingojack
April 18, 2012 at 12:35 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Dan – no need to trouble your tiny mind about that, JustaTech’s impression is in fact the way it is promoted.
(See ‘Your Rights’ section here).
Dingo
Noadi
April 18, 2012 at 12:55 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The Day of Silence isn’t always on April 20, it’s always on the 3rd Friday of April which happened to fall on the 20th this year.
Gregory in Seattle
April 18, 2012 at 8:22 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@jamessweet #19 – The Day of Silence began in 1996 and has always been observed on the third Friday of April. The Columbine shootings took place on April 20, 1999.
jnorris
April 19, 2012 at 10:46 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
To magistramarla in #13:
The president of your school’s GSA exposed 14 and 15 year olds to Power Point! The ‘evil little thing’. :)
And damn good of her to teach sex education.
dingojack
April 19, 2012 at 10:56 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
jnorris* – Yeah everyone knows that indulging in Powerpoint at a young age is a gateway to Access in their late teens – and finally, *shudder* MYOB!
Dingo
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* jnorris is so tough, (s)he doesn’t post to a thread; rather, the thread is allowed to be posted to him/her.