A few days ago on April 22nd, 2022, many LGBTQ+ people and allies Celebrated “Day of Silence.” The GLSEN Day of Silence is a national day where LGBTQ+ students and allies from all over the world take a moment of silence to protest against the harmful acts of harassment and discrimination toward those in the LGBTQ+ community. Day of Silence was started by a college student, Maria Pulzetti, who attended the University of Virginia in the mid-90’s, it has since expanded to reach thousands of students around the globe. When the day was originally created, it was only meant to be a one time thing, but the next year it went national and over a hundred institutions were participating. Every year since then in April, students take this day to stay silent and not speak throughout the whole day. When the end of the day comes, they have big rallies and celebrations; they share their experiences during the protest and try to come up with new ideas on how to bring attention to this community. Students can go online to sign up to participate in Day of silence, sign up to attend rallies, and much more. The Day of Silence began just in school systems but quickly expanded to workplaces, university campuses, and sporting events. Many students even put tape over their mouths and/or “X” marks on their hands to call further attention to their movement. 1 in 8 LGBTQ people have experienced unequal treatment from healthcare personnel, 46% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people have come out to their families about their sexuality, 4.1% of women identify as LGBT, 350,000 people in the LGBTQ community are transgender women, 1 in 5 LGBTQ women live in poverty, 43% of LGBTQ employees haven’t revealed their sexuality at work, <$12,000 annual income is earned by 22% of LGBTQ people. People in the LGBT community are four times more likely to experience violence, including rape, sexual assault, and aggravated or simple assault, than non LGBTQ people. Results from a study showed that 71.1 victimizations per 1,000 people affected  LGBT people, compared to only 19.2 victimizations per 1,000 people affected non LGBT people. The next Day of Silence will be on April 14th, 2023, so if you are a part of the LGBTQ+ community or are an ally wanting to support friends and family, participating in Day of Silence is something to consider doing.