A group of students at a Pennsylvania high school dissatisfied with the national Day of Silence event, which is designed to raise awareness of LGBT bullying, organized an “Anti-Gay Day” on Thursday before the Silence event on Friday, wearing flannel and writing the phrase “Anti-Gay” on their hands reports The Advocate. The national Day of Silence event is a largely peaceful event, but the students taking part in the “Anti-Gay Day,” hung posters on LGBT students lockers and physically harassed LBGT peers within the hallways of McGuffey High School.
The group utilized social media to spread the event, posting pictures of themselves in flannel and planned on enacting additional anti-gay events with the first event lasting a full week. Groups like Focus on the Family and the Illinois Family Institute have organized several of their own anti-gay day events such as walkouts and their version of the day of silence called “Day of Dialogue,” which they claim is designed to get Christians' voices heard on the matter in what they deem a “loving, respectful manner.” However, LGBT students and their supporters at McGuffey High School encountered the complete opposite of a “loving, respectful” event.
Said student Zoe Johnson (pictured right):
“There was pushing, posters hung on homosexual students' lockers. Teachers were having to run out and take them down. It hurts me to see how rude and cruel, and some of these people were my friends before this started.”
McGuffey School District administrators are currently investigating the incident with the school's superintendent, Dr. Erica Kolat, announcing that the school will “follow our Student Code of Conduct, and file legal citations as warranted…We will resolve to ensure that all children can grow and learn in a safe, supportive environment free from discrimination.” However, students remain skeptical about returning to the school as a lynch list with students' names on it is reportedly circulating throughout the school.
Watch WPXI-TV's report on the incident, AFTER THE JUMP…
