Kat is loquacious�which is a fancy way of saying that she is a chatterbox. Like any other auditory learner, she often speaks to understand, although sometimes she speaks just to speak. But she outdid even herself today when I picked her up from school. My ears are tired but the rest of me is proud of her. I wasn�t surprised when the words just bubbled over like a perpetual fountain. Kat was silent all day and she was silent for a cause.

Kat was silent for some friends, some of my co-workers, and for multiple relatives. She was silent for those who can speak out for themselves, those who whisper for themselves, and those who feel they must be silent. She was silent because today was the day many university and high school students are observing a Day of Silence to raise awareness of the harassment and danger faced by homosexuals. In a very few classes as, for example, her acting class, she was one of a group. In at least one class, she was alone. She didn�t speak to teachers but, unlike some, she understood that it also meant not speaking to friends.

She was prepared for hostility, including the penalties that could be exacted in class for failure to participate. Those potential penalties probably were what made her the only participant in her honors classes but she was going to just accept any penalties. She�s well-read. She knows civil disobedience comes with penalties. People participating in civil disobedience are supposed to be willing to pay the penalties. She believes in her cause enough to pay the price. But unlike some kids at her school, she encountered no hostility, either from students or teachers. Amazement perhaps�at the silence, not her participation in a cause---but not hostility.

The day was an education for Kat�in sacrifice, in the power of groups, and in human interactions. (She noted that, for the first time, she understands the term �companionable silence.�) She hopes it was an education for others. (So do I. I have never understood the hatred. Even if homosexuality were a sin, and I deeply believe it is not, I have never understood why homosexuals face more hatred than, for example, bank robbers. But this piece is not about me.)

Today Kat learned that silence has power and that silence can speak. I like what her silence says about her.

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