Day of Silence is GLSEN's annual day of action to spread awareness about the effects of the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) students. In the United States, students take a day-long vow of silence to symbolically represent the silencing of LGBTQ students. The Day of Silence has been held each year in April since 1996. Since 2011, the event was held on the second Friday in April, except in 2018, when it was observed on Friday, April 27, 2020, when it was observed on Friday, April 24, 2021, when it was observed on Friday, April 23, and 2022, when it was observed on Friday, April 22. Organization The Day of Silence is organized by the GLSEN. Students are encouraged to obtain permission from their school before organizing the event. GLSEN states that hundreds of thousands of students at more than 8,000 schools participated in the 2008 Day of Silence. History Created by then-students Maria Pulzetti and Jessie Gilliam, the first event was organized by students at University of Virginia in 1996. Pulzetti explained: "I wanted to do something for BGLAD week that would impact many people at the school and that would be very visible...I knew that if we held panel discussions and events like that, the only people who would come would be the people who already were fairly aware." In 1997, Day of Silence went national, with almost 100 colleges and universities participating. In 2002, Pulzetti's classmates Jessie Gilliam and Chloe Palenchar, and GLSEN National Student Organizer Chris Tuttle, developed the proposal for the day to become an official project of GLSEN. GLSEN developed its first-ever "student leadership team" as part of the Day of Silence. In 2008, the Day of Silence was held in memory of Lawrence "Larry" King, an eighth grader from E.O. Green Middle School who was shot by classmate Brandon McInerney. In the last several years, over 10,000 participants have registered their participation with GLSEN each year. These participants attend middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. They include students from all 50 states in the U.S.A. as well as students from around the world, including New Zealand, Singapore, and Russia. Opposition In 2005, the Alliance Defense Fund began sponsoring a yearly counter-protest called the Day of Truth. "Events like these actually end up promoting homosexuality in public schools, and that actually creates a hostile climate for