A Day of Silence, Headlines, and "Truth"

Today, April 17, is the National Day of Silence. Its purpose is to bring "attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools."

April 14, 2009:

"Angie Zapata was a tall woman with striking black hair and eyes who would attract the attention of men, even those who knew she was biologically male.

But prosecutors say when Allen Andrade found out, he beat her to death with a fire extinguisher....Andrade allegedly told his girlfriend that he 'snapped' and that 'gay things need to die'"


April 14, 2009:

"Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover was 11-- hardly old enough to know his sexuality and yet distraught enough to hang himself last week after school bullies repeatedly called him 'gay.'"


April 7, 2009, from the "I Support the Unanimous Iowa Marriage Decision" Facebook page:




April 14, 2009:

"DES MOINES, Iowa - An openly gay state senator has received a death threat.

Public safety officials say Sen. Matt McCoy, a Des Moines Democrat, received the threat by telephone on Monday."


April 14, 2009:

"Two Gloucester brothers were arrested yesterday in the beating of [Justin Goodwin] outside a Gloucester bar Saturday morning, an attack that family and friends are calling a hate crime....

Shortly after arriving at the bar with his sister, Kalem, and her boyfriend, Goodwin was approached by a group of about five men yelling homosexual slurs, Vaters said. She said that Goodwin wrote out the details of the encounter for her."


August 18, 2008, my comment section:

"The Holy Bible is very clear: death to homosexuals. Leviticus"


The anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund has established a counter protest in response to the National Day of Silence, scheduled to occur on April 20, 2009 saying:

"The Day of Truth was established to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective. (It is a direct response to the Day of Silence)."

It is often said that those who are not part of the solution are part of the problem. With that in mind, I have a question to individuals and groups who oppose the Day of Silence and who seek to counter anti-violence measures that members of the LGBT community engage in. What are you tangibly doing in this world to prevent anti-LGBT violence, harassment, and homicide?