The LGBT advocacy group GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network) has proclaimed April 16, 2010 a “Nation Day of Silence” in public schools.
The Day of Silence website explains, “On the National Day of Silence hundreds of thousands of students nationwide take a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in their schools.”
I offer my congratulations to GLSEN. It really is quite a clever idea. A day of intentional silence to protest the “silence” forced on LGBT students through bullying and other discriminatory practices.
Now, silence may not be the first adjective that comes to my mind when I think of the LGBT rights movement, but perhaps that is also part of the day’s power—the unusual silence will be deafening.
Either way, the National Day of Silence is another example of the brilliant political machinery being used to advance the LGBT movement.The day provides a singular and practical goal around which to encourage participation and galvanize a movement. It is a non-aggressive way to disrupt classes and school in order to draw attention to the issue. It draws critical energy from the rebellious attitudes of those participating, while also casting them in the morally superior role. And most importantly, it allows LGBT students to reconfirm their victimhood in a very public way, automatically putting any who disagree with their behavior in a defensive position. In this way, it achieves numerous political goals all at once.
The pro-family movement can learn a few things from their example.
First, we need to stop allowing ourselves to be pushed into a defensive posture by this and similar actions by the LGBT movement. Every time they create a holiday, host a march, or coordinate a protest, they take control of the microphone and frame the dialogue in their favor. All we can do is respond to their message on their terms. We need to mimic their pro-active and offensive strategy and take control of our own message.
Second, we need more frequent and practical events around which to galvanize our own movement. So often we do not coordinate action unless we are attempting to stop or pass legislation. Meanwhile, the LGBT movement is constantly coordinating events and providing practical goals for supporters to achieve in their own communities. We can do the same to encourage activism and unify our movement.
Finally, we need to be able to point to who the real victims are when homosexuality is accepted as a cultural norm. This requires that we know the social science data that firmly demonstrates the destructive consequences of homosexuality for children, families, society, and homosexuals themselves. These are hard facts that are not well received, but these facts are the best defense we have.