Day of Silence Protest

Members of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance Club (GSA) came together on the ‘Day of Silence’ as a form of protest against the discrimination and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, last Thursday.

At least seven members stood up at the entrance of the Student Union Building with red tape on their mouths and a paper in their hand that explained their motive.

“This day forces us and the community to recognize how many people are silent as a result of bullying, harassment or just not being included in their community,” said GSA Club president Lauren Merlino. “The symbol of having a hand over your mouth is in the gesture of saying that we have been silent.”

Later that day, the movie “Add the Words” was presented in the Lake Coeur d’Alene room, as part of a campaign with the same name that demands to add the words sexual orientation and gender identity to the Idaho Human Rights Act in order to prohibit discrimination on those bases.

“It is really amazing for me, I had to go through my own struggles to find myself and be comfortable with me as a human being,” Merlino said. “The showing of the film was the best moment because it brought together all different people from our community, which means that slowly but surely, in Coeur d’Alene people are becoming less afraid of being who they are.”

Merlino said the GSA club is very involved with the people who made the movie and that it represents everything the club has been working for in Idaho.

Members of the club said they went most of the day without talking, but that it was very hard because of classes.

“It was a really cool experience,” club member Rachel Van Meter said. “There were a lot of people giving thumbs up and it is nice to see the support. I grew up being bullied a lot, and I understand what that feels like, so for me this day represents that if I can do anything to stop this from happening to somebody else, I am more than willing to do it, either protesting or raising a voice for those who cannot.”