Approximately 150 UW-Madison students will not be saying much today. Their day-long abstinence from speech is part of the Day of Silence, a nationwide effort to raise awareness about issues concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.
The Day of Silence, started in 1996, occurs annually at more than 3,000 schools and universities across the country. More than 300,000 students are expected to participate in the event this year, according to Michelle Sims, media relations specialist at the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, who organizes the Day of Silence.
The Day of Silence also includes a silent lunch, to be held at Library Mall at 12 p.m., during which participants will hold signs and raise awareness for their cause.
The highlight of the event, however, is a \Breaking the Silence"" rally and march, also at Library Mall, at 5 p.m. During the rally, participants from UW-Madison, as well as those from gay-straight alliances at area high schools, will march to the state Capitol for a rally with the network.
Erik Trekell, director of the UW-Madison LGBT Campus Center, said one of the purposes of the event is to symbolize the silence that many LGBT students are forced to maintain.
""Things like the proposed constitutional amendment [that would ban same-sex marriage nationwide] really enforce the idea that LGBT students need to stay silenced ... because they're not welcome,"" he said.
Sims said another purpose of the Day of Silence was to bring light to the often-ignored issues that face many LGBT students. She said the Day of Silence ""may actually be the safest school day of the year for LGBT students.""
UW-Madison sophomore T.J. Burkett is one of the many students participating in the Day of Silence. He said his reason for doing so is to shed light on the many hate crimes that occur as a result of prejudice against certain sexual orientations and gender identifications.
""With all the legislation [concerning] gay marriage right now, people aren't really noticing that there [are] a lot of hate crimes in the world,"" he said. ""Lots of times, if someone commits a hate crime against someone because of their sexuality of gender identification, it goes unnoticed and it doesn't get filed as a hate crime, which it is.\
