Sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in the US, the National Day of Silence is a day of action in which students and youth take some form of a vow of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools. Through their activities students can speak out against harassment and organize for change for their schools and communities.<\/p>\n
According to the event’s official website<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a>, “The Day of Silence is a Tool for Change. Organizing a Day of Silence activity or event can be a positive tool for change-both personally and community-wide. By taking a vow of silence, you’re making a powerful statement about the important issue of anti-LGBT bullying. When you organize others to join you that message becomes louder and louder. You can use this attention as a building block in your plans for larger action.”<\/p>\n In Armenia, local NGO Public Information and Need of Knowledge (PINK Armenia) has made a public statement (both on their site<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and on their Facebook page<\/strong><\/span><\/a>) about keeping silent today:<\/p>\n “We apologize, but we won\u2019t be available for the world on April 15: we will not respond to emails, phone calls; we will not have any activities and will not provide any direct service. On April 15, we will keep silence for\u2026 [the Day of Silence].”<\/p>\n Recall, last year, the Day of Silence fell on Apr. 16, which was also marked as Police Day in Armenia. As a result, the RA Chief of Police (allegedly not wanting to have anything to do with a day associated with the LGBT community) asked the president to change the day to Apr. 19; however, after searching online, neither the police chief nor the president were able to find anything that linked the Day of Silence to Apr. 16 and so Police Day remained unchanged.<\/p>\n