NOH8 day of silence

[catsanddogs]

On April 19th is the day of silence to support lgbt and I was wondering who else will be participating in this event this year

[switchee]

Never heard of it.

Is it really silence for a whole day? Or just a certain amount of time during the day? Or just silence on a particular topic?

I don't know many people that could shut up for a full 24 hrs.

[catsanddogs]

ppl usually put duck tape on their mouths

[Happy Me]

I participate every year, at least on some level. I have never been silent online though. For the last several years I have passed out buttons and flyers and stuff, and educated people about it.

[Aethi]

I'd honestly like to participate in this. The only issue is that I don't know how my family members would take it. They'd see it as... "unnecessary." I don't go outside usually, and since it wouldn't be helping, they wonder why I was doing it.

[Hunterman36]

I'll participate. I usually don't talk all that much anyway. Plus I have nothing to do that day. On top of all that I am an LGBT supporter.

[phanmail]

Won't be participating, first you can hardly claim to be "silenced" when your cases are being heard before the supreme court, when many nations around the world are legalizing same sex marriage, when homosexual and bisexual characters are part of hit TV shows (albeit more for titillation when it comes to lesbians).

I support negative gay rights which means gay people have the right to live their lives free of government interference, there should be no laws forbidding homosexuality and no laws preventing two men or two women from entering into a contract (legal marriage)

However by that same thread homosexuals do not have the right to force a church to recognize their union, to force people to change their deeply held religious beliefs.

The homosexual movement would do well to get rid of the Dan "bullshit in the Bible" Savage's amongst them. Attacking religion isn't the way to achieve equality it makes people defensive and more hostile to the viewpoint being espoused.

Anyway thats my two cents.

[Happy Me]

Won't be participating, first you can hardly claim to be "silenced" when your cases are being heard before the supreme court, when many nations around the world are legalizing same sex marriage, when homosexual and bisexual characters are part of hit TV shows (albeit more for titillation when it comes to lesbians).

I support negative gay rights which means gay people have the right to live their lives free of government interference, there should be no laws forbidding homosexuality and no laws preventing two men or two women from entering into a contract (legal marriage)

However by that same thread homosexuals do not have the right to force a church to recognize their union, to force people to change their deeply held religious beliefs.

The homosexual movement would do well to get rid of the Dan "bullshit in the Bible" Savage's amongst them. Attacking religion isn't the way to achieve equality it makes people defensive and more hostile to the viewpoint being espoused.

Anyway thats my two cents.

Hello.

First, how is the Day of Silence attacking religion?

And, I do want government interference when people are harassing, hurting, and/or discriminating based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

The supreme court cases do little to help teens who are in hostile, abusive, and/or violent environments. I have a friend here where I live who came out at 16. She was invited to a party with her "friends" where she was drugged, stripped of her clothes and raped. You want to tell me she didn't feel silenced? I have another friend who was walking down the street with his boyfriend and a car ran them down and hit him. When the police arrived at the scene they laughed and told him he deserved it, when he got the hospital they refused to treat him. You want me to believe he didn't feel silenced? You are telling me you think that the court case somehow helps these two people? That the characters on TV shows somehow make them safe? Both of these happened in the last few years, both in the almighty US of A. And, I legitimately know, from reading loads of research that these are not isolated incidents.

And no doubt, there are some in the LGBT rights movement who have a legitimate axe to grind against Christianity, because they have been beaten, tormented and ridiculed in the name of the Bible. There are also just as many of us who are ourselves Christian. There are pastors and reverends and ministers who are gay. There are churches, even in the deep south who welcome and support LGBT people. No part of the LGBT movement seeks to force an anti-gay church to marry same-sex couples, only to allow same-sex couples to marry in a church that welcomes and supports them.

Just as in any group of people, there are those who are bitter, mean, and divisive, and it is clearly not the moral high road to lump all Christians together with the ones who hurt us. You have a fairly hard case to make though that the 16 year old in the south did not deserve to be protected, or that my friend deserved to be hit by that car because Dan Savage pisses you off.

[phanmail]

The day of silence itself is not attacking religion, standing mute doesn't get things done either, it's letting your voice be heard that can change the world.

I don't like it when people hide behind the caul of victim-hood to make an argument. I think if you are going to use anecdotal evidence you'd better be able to back it up with police reports/news stories etc. Otherwise you're just a zealot making things up.

I never said that gay people deserve to be beaten or mistreated. Like any victim of a crime they are entitled to justice, the purpose of government is to protect citizens from being deprived of their rights through force or fraud.

My fear for forcing churches to do things they don't want to do is not unfounded. The Department of Health and Human services tried to force the Catholic Church to cover contraception even though it's doctrine considers it a sin. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/02/01/contraceptive-regulation-proposal-hhs/1883165/)

It's not much of a stretch to see an over zealous Attorney General requiring churches to marry homosexual couples. This too is not without precedent (http://www.eharmony.com/press-release/15/)

People are entitled to their opinions even if the opinions are hurtful. That would include Dan Savage, but their opinions reflect on their cause. The Westboro baptist church is a great example. People who are opposed to gay marriage are given much legitimacy because of their actions.

You need to check your hostility toward people with a slightly different opinion than you, I'm on your side believe it or not.

[Happy Me]

The day of silence itself is not attacking religion, standing mute doesn't get things done either, it's letting your voice be heard that can change the world.

I don't like it when people hide behind the caul of victim-hood to make an argument. I think if you are going to use anecdotal evidence you'd better be able to back it up with police reports/news stories etc. Otherwise you're just a zealot making things up.

I never said that gay people deserve to be beaten or mistreated. Like any victim of a crime they are entitled to justice, the purpose of government is to protect citizens from being deprived of their rights through force or fraud.

My fear for forcing churches to do things they don't want to do is not unfounded. The Department of Health and Human services tried to force the Catholic Church to cover contraception even though it's doctrine considers it a sin. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/02/01/contraceptive-regulation-proposal-hhs/1883165/)

It's not much of a stretch to see an over zealous Attorney General requiring churches to marry homosexual couples. This too is not without precedent (http://www.eharmony.com/press-release/15/)

People are entitled to their opinions even if the opinions are hurtful. That would include Dan Savage, but their opinions reflect on their cause. The Westboro baptist church is a great example. People who are opposed to gay marriage are given much legitimacy because of their actions.

You need to check your hostility toward people with a slightly different opinion than you, I'm on your side believe it or not.

First of all, I was not feeling hostile, I apologize that the post must have read that way.

I do want to say, during last year's Day of Silence I talked to over 300 people on the 2 days leading up to it, and handed out flyers and buttons to another 500 at least on the actual day. It is a form of protest, I don't know that it is the most effective one, so if I only engaged in one thing a year it would probably not be this one, but last year was good in my little part of the world.

I talk about victims because the entire intention of DOS is to raise awareness about the effects of homophobia on its victims. If you don't want to talk about the victim side of DOS because it makes me seem like I am hiding behind the "caul of victimhood", then this conversation is moot, that is what DOS is entirely about. It seems like we are having two entirely different conversations, you are somehow bringing the government and the Catholic Church/contraception argument into a conversation about DOS, that is fully about raising awareness for victims of homophobia.

Getting into a debate about the entire LGBT rights movement online, on GD, is not only pointless, but it also kind of detracts from the reason I am on this site, to have fun. I have incredible results when I talk to people in person, but I have never seen one of these conversations go well online, I can think of several reasons why this would be the case: 1. I can not summarize 3 years worth of academic research, and a lifetime of being gay into a few paragraphs. 2. You do not know me (anonymous site), so you have no idea what my qualifications are. 3. You can not hear the tone, or see my facial expressions, which would clearly show you that I am passionate and caring, not angry/hostile/upset.

My friends did not get news stories. I don't know how often you have gone to a news outlet when you were going through something horrible, but I don't know that it is a common response. There are a significant number of reports, studies, and data showing that these are not isolated incidents though, and it does not take much to find them (it took me about 2 minutes to find the following 3, and I am sure there are a billion more.)

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/december/annual-hate-crimes-report-released/annual-hate-crimes-report-released
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Significant_acts_of_violence_against_LGBT_people (I know it is wikipedia, but there are actual links to news articles at the bottom)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/02/anti-gay-hate-crimes-murders-national-coalition-of-anti-violence-programs_n_1564885.html

I hope you have a great day.

[phanmail]

Point taken perhaps we should cease this debate, thank you for at least providing sources. Have good day yourself.