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Students pay homage with Day of Silence

Marlon Pitter

Connector Editor

Students at UMass Lowell participated in the Day of Silence Friday to honor and raise awareness for individuals who are gay, lesbian or do not otherwise identify as heterosexual, who feel they have been forced into silence by society or somehow feel they do not have a voice in society.

Pride Alliance spearheaded the campaign, but the participants were the driving force, each with their own reason to not speak for the day.

The Break the Silence event was the culmination of the day, during which students came together to reflect on the challenges they faced during the day and what being silent meant for them.

Senior Patrick Ryan said he participates in the Day of Silence due to a tragedy from his past.

“When I was living in South Carolina, a close friend of mine died as the result of a hate crime. Therefore, supporting LGBT rights strikes a chord with me,” Ryan said.

Kendra Mahoney, president of Pride Alliance, saidshe has gained a stronger grasp on what the Day of Silence really means since first participating in high school.

“I didn’t understand it at first in high school, and I was doing it because everyone else was,” said Mahoney, “but now I do it to honor the LGBT community worldwide that has been forced into silence.”

Despite not being able to orally communicate for the day, Kirsten Traynor, a freshman and first-time participant, called the Day of Silence and all of its challenges a “good learning opportunity.”

“It was really hard because there were times when I needed to communicate, but I couldn’t,” said Traynor. “It was like coming here from another country and not being able to speak English.”

At the same time, Maria Loutraris said her day was spent “reflecting on how much privilege we have.”

Thomas Bartee, a junior, has participated in the Day of Silence annually since 2009. Although he said he wanted to participate again this year, personal obligations prohibited him from doing so.

Nevertheless, Bartee said he has more than enough reasons to support the LGBT community by being silent for a day.

“I faced disrespect from everywhere; even my family, who knew what I was doing and what it meant, would try to get me to talk,” he said.

Joshua Crane, social chair of Pride Alliance, said he has encountered individuals who believe that the Day of Silence only defeats the purpose of trying to acknowledge the silenced LGBT community, but Crane said he believes the opposite.

“It’s really infuriating that people think that we’re proving their point. It’s only difficult to understand it if you don’t [experience the silence] every day,” he said.

Likewise, Bartee said he hopes his efforts will create positive social change for the LGBT community.

“If being silent helps someone else and gets people talking, it’s worth it,” said Bartee.

Marlon Pitter is a former editor-in-chief of the UMass Lowell Connector. Hailing from Hartford, Conn., he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English with a concentration in journalism and professional writing and a digital media minor in 2017. Follow him on Twitter @marlonpresents.