Talking About Silence…

This morning I was aghast to find that an anti-choice group was not only planning some very disturbing actions in schools on October 21^st but also that they were simultaneously undermining the hard work that LGBTQ folks have done with The Day of Silence. The Day of Silent Solidarity is the anti-choice movements spin on The Day of Silence and it will take place this year on October 21^st in schools across the country. Using the same basic idea behind the Day Of Silence, the anti-choicers are telling students to not talk all day long so they can be in solidarity with the 4, 000 “infant voices” that are supposedly silenced each day by abortion. Over sixty schools have been registered in Missouri including Ladue High School and all of the schools in the Parkway district.
Clearly, this action goes against many of the principles we believe in here at Faith Aloud. Firstly, the name invites an obvious and hurtful comparison between the silencing of LGBTQ folks by our government and our homophobic society to the choice some women make to end their pregnancies. Secondly, this day is a clear attempt to use scare tactics to silence the voices of women. Finally, the day of silent solidarity represents only one of many different religious beliefs on the subject of choice.
We here at Faith Aloud think that actions like this shouldn’t go unnoticed or unchallenged. So we have created our very own day of action in response—on the same day…October 21^st 2008. We know this isn’t much notice but we are moving quickly. Aloud to be Heard is our attempt to let the voices of reproductive justice be heard above the din of the religious right. We will be creating a facebook event, as well as a myspace event, and we welcome you to check those out. We will be advocating people to wear purple on October 21^st in response to the red color scheme of the anti-choice action. More updates will come including flyers that you can pass out and possible places to get buttons and stickers in time for the event. You can start by joining the group, and being aware that at schools all across the country on October 21^st anti-choicers will be trying to silence the voices of people who believe they have the right to decide what happens to their body without condemnation from anyone, the voices of people who believe in a compassionate god/goddess that loves all of humanity.
We are also calling for people to use their voices by submitting their stories of choice...whether it be the choice to terminate a pregnancy, undergo fertility treatments, carry a child to term, adopt a child, use a sperm donor or surrogate, or any other story of choice...these stories can be posted anonymously here or sent via email to events@morcrc.org
Many people in this country have had their voices silenced…so let’s speak up because we are ALOUD TO BE HEARD.



dayofsilence.org –LGBTQ Day of Silence
silentday.org-anti-choice website
myspace.com/morcrc