Day of Silence Prayer: Stop bullying God's LGBTQ youth

A prayer by Jesus in Love founder Kittredge Cherry is one of the few religious voices supporting Day of Silence, a national student-led protest of anti-LGBT bullying. It happens tomorrow on Friday, April 17.

Christianity has been used to justify the harassment that Day of Silence seeks to prevent. The conservative Christian group Focus on the Family even organized an annual event in opposition to Day of Silence. Day of Dialogue, which is happening today (April 14) encourages students to speak up about “God's design for sexuality.”


For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
Day of Silence Prayer: Stop bullying God's LGBTQ youth

Once again religious faith gets wrongly equated with discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender expression. The Rainbow Day of Silence prayer gives voice to the deeper truth that LGBTQ people are part of God’s good creation.

Day of Silence Prayer (Twitter version)

by Kittredge Cherry

Silence is memory
Remembering those
Driven to suicide by bullies

Silence is action
Calling attention to those who are silenced
When bigotry is disguised as humor

Silence is solidarity
Students, family, teachers, friends
Who stand with the queer and questioning

Silence is pride, LGBTQ pride
Ignoring bullies,
Claiming our right to be
Part of God’s rainbow.

Silence is prayer
When any child is bullied,
Christ is bullied.
Listen in the silence
For God.

Day of Silence Prayer (long version)

by Kittredge Cherry

Silence is memory....
Remembering those who died young,
Driven to suicide by bullying
Or killed
Because of who they loved
Because of the way God created them
Because they were called
Gay, lesbian, bi, trans, queer, sodomite…
Remembering Tyler Clementi, Leelah Alcorn, Brandon Teena, Matthew Shepard, Gwen Araujo, Haylee Fentress, Paige Moravetz, and many, many more.

Silence is action….
Calling attention to how people are silenced
When bigotry is disguised as humor,
When prejudice turns into threats
And even violence.

Silence is solidarity…
Students, family, teachers, friends
Who care enough
To share the stigma,
To stand with the queer and questioning
Stopping hate with compassion.

Silence is pride, LGBTQ pride…
Not letting the bullies win.
Claiming our right to be.
With dignity
Part of God’s rainbow.

Silence is prayer…
For Mary’s child.
Whenever any child is bullied,
Christ is bullied.
Whenever any child is called names,
Christ is called names.
Mary’s child said,
“Whatever you do to the least of these,
you do to me.”
With sighs too deep for words,
Listening in the silence
For the still small voice of God.
Amen.

Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The first Day of Silence was organized at the University of Virginia in response to a class assignment on non-violent protest. More than 8,000 schools have participated in the event, which is held every year in April.

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Related links:

Día del Silencio: Day of Silence Prayer in Spanish

Dia do Silêncio: Day of Silence Prayer in Portuguese (Temple de Antinoo Brasil)

Dayofsilence.org (official website)

Dayofdialogue.com (official website)

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This post is part of the LGBTQ Calendar series by Kittredge Cherry. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, events in LGBTQ history, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of faith and our allies.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.

Day of Silence Prayer: Stop bullying God's LGBTQ youth

A new prayer by Jesus in Love founder Kittredge Cherry is one of the few religious voices supporting Day of Silence, a national student-led protest of anti-LGBT bullying. It happens tomorrow on Friday, April 17.


For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
Day of Silence Prayer: Stop bullying God's LGBTQ youth

Another LGBT-affirming spiritual resource is “For Mary’s Child,” a Facebook page calling on faith communities to support Day of Silence.

Christianity has been used to justify the harassment that Day of Silence seeks to prevent. The conservative Christian group Focus on the Family even organized an annual event in opposition to Day of Silence. Day of Dialogue, which is happening today (April 16) encourages students to speak up about “God's design for sexuality.”

Once again religious faith gets equated with discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender expression. I wrote the Rainbow Day of Silence prayer to give voice to the deeper truth that LGBTQ people are part of God’s good creation.

Day of Silence Prayer (Twitter version)

by Kittredge Cherry

Silence is memory
Remembering those
Driven to suicide by bullies

Silence is action
Calling attention to those who are silenced
When bigotry is disguised as humor

Silence is solidarity
Students, family, teachers, friends
Who stand with the queer and questioning

Silence is pride, LGBTQ pride
Ignoring bullies,
Claiming our right to be
Part of God’s rainbow.

Silence is prayer
When any child is bullied,
Christ is bullied.
Listen in the silence
For God.

Day of Silence Prayer (long version)

by Kittredge Cherry

Silence is memory....
Remembering those who died young,
Driven to suicide by bullying
Or killed
Because of who they loved
Because of the way God created them
Because they were called
Gay, lesbian, bi, trans, queer, sodomite…
Remembering Tyler Clementi, Leelah Alcorn, Brandon Teena, Matthew Shepard, Gwen Araujo, Haylee Fentress, Paige Moravetz, and many, many more.

Silence is action….
Calling attention to how people are silenced
When bigotry is disguised as humor,
When prejudice turns into threats
And even violence.

Silence is solidarity…
Students, family, teachers, friends
Who care enough
To share the stigma,
To stand with the queer and questioning
Stopping hate with compassion.

Silence is pride, LGBTQ pride…
Not letting the bullies win.
Claiming our right to be.
With dignity
Part of God’s rainbow.

Silence is prayer…
For Mary’s child.
Whenever any child is bullied,
Christ is bullied.
Whenever any child is called names,
Christ is called names.
Mary’s child said,
“Whatever you do to the least of these,
you do to me.”
With sighs too deep for words,
Listening in the silence
For the still small voice of God.
Amen.

Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The first Day of Silence was organized at the University of Virginia in response to a class assignment on non-violent protest. More than 8,000 schools have participated in the event, which is held every year in April.

(Credit: The image at the top of this post comes from For Mary's Child: A Way of Hope)
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Related links:

Dayofsilence.org (official website)

Dayofdialogue.com (official website)

Day of Silence Prayer by Rev. Mike Schuenemeyer (ucc.org, 2007)
____
This post is part of the LGBT Calendar series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of faith and our allies.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
http://www.jesusinlove.blogspot.com/
Jesus in Love Blog on LGBT spirituality and the arts

"Jesus is not a homophobe" shirt speaks on Day of Silence for LGBT youth

Maverick Couch, second from left, with his mother, Tonya, and his friends Josh and Taylor at his April 3 press conference in Cincinnati (photo from Lambda Legal)

Photo from Lambda Legal

A gay teen in a T-shirt that says, “Jesus is not a homophobe” is among those taking a stand for LGBT youth today on the Day of Silence.

Today is the Day of Silence, a national student-led protest of anti-LGBT bullying in schools. On April 20 students from middle school through college take a vow of silence to emphasize the silencing effect of anti-LGBT harassment. During their silence, students explain their message with printed cards, buttons, stickers, T-shirts and such.

Today’s silent protestors include Maverick Couch, a 16-year-old gay Ohio student who won a legal fight this month for the right to wear a T-shirt that says: “Jesus was not a homophobe.”

Couch wore the shirt to his high school in Waynesville, Ohio, for the Day of Silence in 2011. The school principal ordered him to turn the shirt inside out because it “had to do with religion” and “religion and state have to be separate.” Later the school district defended the action by denouncing the shirt’s message as “sexual in nature and therefore indecent and inappropriate in a school setting.”

On April 3 Lambda Legal filed suit against the Wayne Local School District on Maverick’s behalf, arguing that they violated Couch’s First Amendment right to free speech. The very next day a federal judge ruled that Couch can wear his T-shirt while the case proceeds -- but only on the Day of Silence.

Couch’s experience shows the power of combining LGBT and Christian messages. I have done so many projects about the queer Christ that it almost seems tame to wear a T-shirt saying “Jesus is not a homophobe.” But it sure made an impact!

Jesus himself never said anything directly about homosexuality in the Bible, but he often encouraged love for all, including outcasts and enemies. Surely he would agree that he is “not a homophobe.”

The Day of Silence feels like great progress to me when I remember my own high school years in the 1970s.  Back then every day was a type of  “day of silence” in which we queer kids were afraid to identify ourselves.

Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The first Day of Silence was organized at the University of Virginia in response to a class assignment on non-violent protest. More than 8,000 schools have participated in the event, which is held every year in April.
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Related links:

Dayofsilence.org (official website)

Student Can Wear Pro-Gay Jesus T-shirt (Advocate)

Couch v. Wayne Local School District (Lambda Legal)

Teen wins right to wear 'Jesus Is Not a Homophobe' T-shirt to school (MSNBC)

Maverick Couch, Gay High School Student, Sues School Over Ban Of His 'Jesus Is Not A Homophobe' T-Shirt (Huffington Post)

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This post is part of the LGBT Calendar series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of faith and our allies.
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Jesus is Not a Homophobe by wesdesd
Print your own t shirt on zazzle.