HRC Back Story

Special thanks to HRC's Public Policy Advocate Dena Wigder Feldman for sending us the following post:

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Tomorrow, April 25, is the National Day of Silence, when students around the country will take a vow of silence to draw attention to anti-GLBT harassment, discrimination, and name-calling in our nation’s schools.  The National Day of Silence is coordinated each year by GLSEN – the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network – and to date an estimated 500,000 students from all 50 states and Puerto Rico have participated in the event.   It is critical we raise awareness of the issues facing GLBT students in schools across our nation.  GLSEN’s 2005 National School Climate Survey found that 4 out of 5 GLBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and more than 30% report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety.  Watch a video GLSEN produced on this year's National Day of Silence:

This week, our Congressional champions are helping to send the message that our nation’s schools should be safe spaces in which all children can learn and succeed free of harassment and discrimination.  Representatives Eliot Engel (D-NY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Lois Capps (D-CA), along with 28 co-sponsors, introduced H. Con. Res. 328 (.pdf), a resolution in support of the 2008 National Day of Silence.  And yesterday, April 23, Representatives Baldwin, Capps and Sam Farr (D-CA) spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives about the importance of the National Day of Silence and the need to confront anti-GLBT harassment in schools. 

Below is a list of co-sponsors of H. Con. Res. 328.  If your Member of Congress is on the list, consider placing a call to thank the Representative for his/her support! You can reach the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and be directed to the representative you'd like to contact: 

Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-17]* Chief sponsor
Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2]
Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] 
Rep Davis, Susan A. [CA-53]
Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. [CT-3]
Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5]
Rep Farr, Sam [CA-17]
Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2]
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7]
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4]
Rep Hare, Phil [IL-17]
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22]
Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12]
Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15]
Rep Lewis, John [GA-5]
Rep Loebsack, David [IA-2]
Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18]
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14]
Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7]
Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3]
Rep McNulty, Michael R. [NY-21]
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8]
Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC]
Rep Pallone, Frank, Jr. [NJ-6]
Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9]
Rep Sanchez, Linda T. [CA-39]
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9]
Rep Serrano, Jose E. [NY-16]
Rep Sires, Albio [NJ-13]
Rep Solis, Hilda L. [CA-32]
Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13]
Rep Sutton, Betty [OH-13]
Rep Towns, Edolphus [NY-10]
Rep Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [FL-20] 
Rep Weiner, Anthony D. [NY-9]
Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19]
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6]

NOTE FROM CHRIS: We're already hearing that some leaders of the anti-gay rat pack, including the homo "arm-ripping" Rev. Ken Hutcherson, are planning to protest the National Day of Silence as another evil ploy from those "sinful" homosexuals Pastor John Hagee thinks caused Hurricane Katrina to come and wipe out New Orleans. Another conservative group is planning to stage its own "Day of Truth" on Monday to "counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective." So taking a day to draw attention to the rising tide of anti-gay violence in our schools and across the country constitutes promoting an agenda? Now that's a GAG.

The ignorance of these "family values" leaders is staggering. Thankfully, most Americans (including those in the public eye) refuse to follow along with their closed-minded obsession with a threatening "homosexual agenda." CNN's Larry King Live even produced a public service announcement for the National Day of Silence that pays special tribute to Lawrence King: