By Bob Brown, editor
The CV Post
For many people, Friday night is a time to cut loose and make some noise.
But this Friday night (April 17) figures to be particularly celebratory for some students from North, Memorial, Chippewa Falls and Menomonie high schools.
Like many of their peers across the United States, at school on Friday these students will observe the “Day of Silence,” an annual “day of action” organized since 1996 by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.
According to GLSEN’s website, students are asked to take a vow of silence on Friday to “bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment and effective responses. The goal of the Day of Silence is to make schools safer for all students, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.”
This year, for the first time, the national “Day of Silence” will be followed locally by “Night of Noise,” a prom specifically for LGBT students from the four area high schools to be held on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Alison Harder, a prevention specialist with the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW) office in Eau Claire, is one of the main organizers of the new prom.
She says the idea for the event came out of discussions among members of Q2, a group hosted by ARCW and consisting primarily of students who belong to Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) chapters at the four area public high schools.
In her three and a half years working for ARCW in Eau Claire, Harder hasn’t heard of any violent attacks upon LGBT students in area schools. But, she says, “these kids face some discrimination, some threats and bullying.”
Discrimination occurs in area schools
Typical of the discrimination in area schools that Harder hears of is gay couples being taunted for holding hands while walking in the hallways. And, she says, statistics would indicate this kind of discrimination affects more than just a few students.
According to a May 2012 report by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, “9 percent of high school students in Wisconsin identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or unsure.”
“Night of Noise” has as its primary focus “creating a comfortable place for students from area high schools to get together and get to know other youth who are similar,” Harder says. “It’s more about that than because of bad experiences the kids may have had.
“This is a very organic sort of prom,” she adds. “It’s kind of celebrating who everybody is.”
Harder is heartened by what she sees as a growing acceptance in American society of people with differing sexual orientations and gender identities.
“I think it’s definitely a changing landscape,” she says, recalling that in her 2002 graduating class at Memorial High School there were no students who were openly LGBT.
“There definitely were LGBT individuals in my class,” she says, “but no one was out when we graduated.”
“There’s definitely been a shift in the conversation,” she adds. “Kids are coming out earlier. They’re having a lot more support from their friends, especially with today’s technology – Facebook and Twitter and all the rest.”
But this attitudinal change is far from universal, especially among older generations of Americans, says Harder, a 2008 graduate of UW-Eau Claire with a degree in women’s studies.
“We have a mix of LGBT students whose parents are supportive,” she says. “And then we definitely have youth who are not out, who can’t always be honest with their parents, unfortunately.”
As such, Harder realizes this alternative prom won’t be welcome by all.
“It’s very difficult to change people’s minds about something like this,” she says. “We just hope that people will be accepting.”
Prom attendance remains a question mark
As for how many students will attend “Night of Noise,” Harder is trying to temper her expectations. “If we get 50 kids to come, that will be great,” she says.
But then she notes that more than 100 people attended an event held last week at The Plus in downtown Eau Claire to raise funds for the prom.
“The showing by youth and the community was just amazing,” she says. “We saw nothing but support.”
The fundraiser, arranged with assistance by the Family Support Center, raised $629. That’s enough to cover the cost of this year’s “Night of Noise,” with funds left over to serve as “seed money” for another prom next year, Harder says.
Harder says the rules for the new prom are simple: only high schoolers are welcome – no college students and no one under ninth grade.
And for those who do attend: “Come as you are,” she says. “And be accepting.”
Already more than 10 people have volunteered to serve as chaperones for the prom, and they’ll all be dressed up, Harder promises. She expects to see a wide range of attire among students attending, including some in tuxes and formal gowns.
Harder is grateful for the efforts of many in making “Night of Noise” a reality.
The UWEC Campus PRIDE group arranged for the prom to be held at The Lookout, a student-operated dance club in the Hilltop Center on UW-Eau Claire’s upper campus. PRIDE group members also will be among those serving as chaperones for the event.
Assistance also has come from other UW-Eau Claire students, staff members from ARCW and the Family Support Center, and parents of students from the four area high schools.
But Harder gives particular credit for prom planning to the faculty advisors of the GSA groups at the four high schools and to Austin Shimko, the lead facilitator of the Q2 group at the ARCW office in Eau Claire.
“Austin is more than my right-hand man,” Harder says. “He’s the right side of my entire body when it comes to things like this.”