Whereas the national Day of Silence is a day in which students take a vow of silence to bring attention to the anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer name-calling, bullying, and harassment faced by individuals in schools; Whereas GLSEN is a national nonprofit organization working to create safe and affirming learning environments in primary and secondary schools nationwide, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression; Whereas GLSEN designates one day of every April as the national Day of Silence ; Whereas hundreds of thousands of students at thousands of schools, domestic and international, have participated in the national Day of Silence in past years; Whereas students experiences of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and harassment are not unique but shared worldwide; Whereas GLSEN’s 2015 National School Climate Survey illustrates the pervasive harassment and victimization faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students by documenting their experiences within the preceding academic year; Whereas 70 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students reported being verbally harassed by their peers at school because of their sexual orientation and 54 percent because of their gender expression; Whereas 27 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students reported being physically harassed by their peers at school because of their sexual orientation and 20 percent because of their gender expression; Whereas nearly 13 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students reported being physically assaulted by their peers at school because of their sexual orientation and 9 percent because of their gender expression; Whereas 57 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students reported that they felt unsafe in school due to bullying, harassment, and discrimination, and 31.8 percent reported missing at least one entire school day in the preceding month because of safety concerns