Mount Si High School leaders were hoping the national Day of Silence on Friday in support of gay and lesbian students would pass quietly under the radar.
That's not going to happen.
A prominent anti-gay-rights activist last week called for 1,000 "prayer warriors" to protest in front of the school Friday morning.
A coalition of groups that support gay students quickly announced a counterprotest at another location in Snoqualmie, where Mount Si High is located, to support students participating in the event.
A local church took out a full-page ad in Wednesday's Snoqualmie Valley Record in support of the school's Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), which is sponsoring the Day of Silence. The ad was meant to counter one by the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, inviting residents to join his protest and declaring: "It's time for moral people to be unashamed and take a stand."
Snoqualmie's police force has asked neighboring jurisdictions to have officers standing by, although Hutcherson has vowed that his protest will be peaceful.
The National Day of Silence has been held at high schools and colleges around the country for the past 13 years, according to its sponsor, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a national group with an office in Seattle. About 230 participated at Mount Si last year, a day that sponsors said occurred largely without incident.
Making it personal
Junior Leigh Macaulay, a GSA board member, said the Day of Silence is needed at Mount Si because it's still "risky" for students to be openly gay, lesbian or transgender.
"It's no big deal over at Issaquah," she said. "The publicity has made us the battleground."
Protest planned to counter Day of Silence at Mount Si High School
Seattle Times, United States * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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