Protest Anti-LGBTQIA+ Discrimination and Harassment

Released on April 21, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today we honor the Day of Silence, a national student-led demonstration to raise awareness for the harmful effects of harassment and discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people in schools. Organized by the Gay Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), students will take a day-long vow of silence to protest discrimination and engage in activism and advocacy. 

The Day of Silence was created in 1996 by a University of Virginia student named Maria Pulzetti, who felt that LGBTQIA+ students’ concerns were falling on deaf ears.  She organized the first Day of Silence on her campus during the university’s Pride Week, and the next year GLSEN, one of the largest LGBTQIA+ education networks in the country, took the event national, with more than 100 institutions participating.  Hundreds of thousands of students go through the school day without speaking, culminating in rallies and events where they Break the Silence with their own stories and shared experiences. 

This year, GLSEN is holding a virtual Break the Silence Instagram Live event with special guests, entertainment and speakers at 7:00 PM ET.  Follow @GLSEN to tune into the event, or you can get more information here. 

NOW supports the Day of Silence and other efforts to bring attention to the bullying, harassment, discrimination and other forms of victimization students face.  These attacks are on the rise, along with the politicization of anti-LGBTQIA+ activity by politicians, state legislatures and extremist groups.  More states are imitating Florida’s hateful “Don’t Say Gay” laws, with more students made to feel isolated, alone, and under attack. 

I encourage you to visit the GLSEN Day of Silence webpage and also a “zine” created by high school students including poems, artwork and stories written by LGBTQIA+ youth. 

NOW is proud to stand with LGBTQIA+ youth and their allies to break the silence and amplify the voices of those who are fighting so bravely for justice, fairness and human rights. 

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The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the nation’s leading membership-based advocacy group dedicated to defending women’s rights, advancing equality and combating injustice in all aspects of social, political and economic life. Through educating, mobilizing, and convening a vast network of grassroots activists across the country, NOW advocates for national, state and local policies that promote an anti-racist and intersectional feminist agenda. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has been on the frontlines of nearly every major advancement for women’s rights and continues to champion progressive values today. More about NOW’s efforts and resources is available at NOW.org. 

Contact: Press Team, press@now.org,

Released on April 7, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. — I am so proud that for the first time in 232 years, a Black woman will finally sit in one of the most powerful judicial seats in the world. Today the Senate voted 53 YES – 47 NO to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court.   

At long last, our nation’s highest court will look a bit more like the diverse United States that it represents. Judge Brown Jackson’s impeccable record as a fair, knowledgeable, and empathetic jurist will be a great asset to the judicial body that is tasked with upholding our democracy. 

Even though her opponents’ attacks during the confirmation hearings ranged from the ridiculous to the dangerous, she handled every question with the grace and grit that has defined her life – on and off the bench. She gave us a glimpse of the type of Justice that she will be, one who will serve with integrity and be an inspiration for all those who watch her journey, especially Black and brown women and girls.  

Judge Brown Jackson will not only continue Justice Bryer’s long legacy of fairness, but will shape her own outstanding legacy. Her diverse experience as both a public and private defense attorney and a judge provides her with a necessary perspective and the ability to take a holistic approach to each case she hears.  

We are confident that Judge Brown Jackson will uphold NOW’s core values in her rulings and will continue to be a champion for equality for all. NOW and our members were proud to support her history-making nomination.  We will watch with hopeful and proud eyes as she is sworn into the Supreme Court.  

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The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the nation’s leading membership-based advocacy group dedicated to defending women’s rights, advancing equality and combating injustice in all aspects of social, political and economic life. Through educating, mobilizing, and convening a vast network of grassroots activists across the country, NOW advocates for national, state and local policies that promote an anti-racist and intersectional feminist agenda. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has been on the frontlines of nearly every major advancement for women’s rights and continues to champion progressive values today. More about NOW’s efforts and resources is available at NOW.org. 

Contact: Press Team, press@now.org,