Unfortunately the Day of Silence, sponsored by GLSEN -the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network- will have to deal with the usual flotsam of religious right groups claiming that the event is just another way to "indoctrinate children into the so-called homosexual lifestyle."
Religious right groups have over the years ran unsuccessful attacks against the Day of Silence, first by banding together and asking that parents keep their children out of school during that day, and then trying to push a poor alternative, the Day of Truth, where they encourage students to repeat religious right distortions about the lgbt community in the name of love.
I have no doubt that this year will be the same as the years before - the Day of Silence being a huge success while the religious right alternatives fall flat.
However, an online buddy sent me two very interesting articles from Fox News about the Day of Silence which give me pause.
The first article, Gay Day of Silence a Waste of Tax Dollars, Critics Say, is extremely poor. Rather than go into detail, I will say look at the headline because it underscores the article writer's sloppy work.
The headline implies that those who oppose the Day of Silence is concerned by its alleged waste of tax dollars, but this claim isn't addressed in the article. All of the Day of Silence critics who are quoted do is repeat the usual "we don't want our children indoctrinated" nonsense. The claim about the Day of Silence and tax dollars is eventually addressed in the article however. Most specifically, in the article's last sentence:
GLSEN does not currently receive any federal or state funding, according to a spokesman for the group. The non-profit is funded by charitable foundations, teachers' unions and a host of corporations.
That sentence makes the headline inaccurate, doesn't it?
Believe it or not, Fox News's second article about Day of Silence, N.J. Elementary School Cancels 'Cross-Dressing' Fashion Show After Complaints, is even worse than the first article. This particular article has to do with how a misunderstanding led an elementary school teacher to mandate that all students, even the boys, dress as women for a fashion show in honor of Women's History Month.
The article attempts to connect this fiasco to Day of Silence via the comments of two concerned parents:
"My son was very upset," said Janine Giandomenico. "He said, 'Mommy, please don't make me do this.'"
Giandomenico said her son has Asperger's syndrome, a social interaction disorder, and she feared he would expose himself to ridicule from other students if he participated in the show.
"My husband and I are very open-minded, but this is a decision for my son to make when he's old enough to understand it," Giandomenico said. "I thought it was wrong. I felt like I had to say something."
She said she also found it "very odd" that the event was scheduled to coincide with an anti-bullying "Day of Silence" organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which is encouraging students nationwide to remain mute during classes on Friday to call attention to verbal and physical abuse of gay students.
. . . Stacy Bowen, a mother of two young children in Bucks County, Pa., said she contacted the school's principal after seeing Giandomenico's Facebook posts on the matter.
"I was just so outraged," Bowen said. "I find it completely alarming that a school would do this."
Bowen said she also found it "ironic" that the event was scheduled on the "Day of Silence."
"It's a step out of line," she said. "You're forcing boys to participate in this, yet you stand for anti-bullying. They may feel pressured to do it when they don't want to."
No one from GLSEN was quoted in this article and I wonder if they were contacted. We don't even know if there will be Day of Silence participation in that school. And we certainly don't know if GLSEN had anything to do with the fashion show (allow me to go out on a limb here and say that the organization didn't.)
All that connects Day of Silence to this fiasco are the words of two concerned, but obviously ignorant parents and the bad work of a journalist who didn't even bother to verify the connection.
It's bad enough when the Day of Silence has to deal with the machinations of religious right groups but poor journalism is something which no one should have to deal with.
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