Night of Noise puts LGBTQyouth issues on blast

Unzipping the lip, Illinois Safe Schools Alliance ended the Day of Silence with the 14th annual Night of Noise on April 17 at the Thompson Center.

The Day of Silence is a day at school when students, teachers, school administrators and other supporters across the country protest with silence to bring awareness of the effects of LGBTQA bullying.

The Alliance Youth Committee organized the loud event and invited GSAs across Illinois. The activist celebration was open to the public and about 200 people gathered in the open outdoor space to turn up the Night of Noise volume.

The mission of the event, said Alliance Executive Director Anthony Papini, is always “to ensure youth have a safe and affirming space to celebrate their identities and call to attention the issues that young LGBTQ youth face in their schools.”

“This is 110 percent for and by the young people and that’s incredible and the way it should be,” said Papini of the evening’s event. “Things are getting better, but there’s still a lot of violence and harassment LGBTQ youth face and to see an evening like this where there’s positive energy, that’s my favorite part.”

On stage, Chicagoland teen musicians Nick and Annabelle played their acoustic songs, Oregon-based singer/songwriter James Panther performed his piano-driven original pop, and Chicago indie-band Mister E Machine brought its rainbow twist as the act premiered its frst music video for the original anti-bullying theme song “Rosa Marie.” Technical difficulties muted the music video’s sound, but the band took the challenge head on and played along with it, anyway. U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) spoke on issues impacting LGBTQA youth. Alliance Youth Committee member and Lincoln Park High School’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA) Vice President Reed Essex also addressed the crowd with a passionate speech about LGBTQA rights.

“The LGBTQ community is a really huge target of bullying and that’s not to say other people don’t get bullied, but they’re a huge target of it,” said Mister E Machine lead vocalist, guitarist and founder Manny Capozzi. “Our main idea was to partner with them and raise awareness for both the organization and the band and what we’re doing.”

“For me, as an alli and an activist, I was really impressed that the kids were able to make connections about how the mainstream gay rights movement marginalizes people of color and transgender people,” said Mister E Machine bassist and backup vocalist David Ladon. “They were very articulate and they gave an honest representation of the struggles people are dealing with more than just some of the nice slogans and stickers we see on people’s cars.”

Various LGBTQ organizations set up booths to provide even more of an educational component. The evening concluded with a giant dance party to the DJ’s set of hits.

“I hope this year everybody felt like their identity was affirmed and recognized regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity, race, socioeconomic status, ability or disability, etc.,” said Papini. “I think the most pressing [concern] for us right now, what young people are telling us, is that there really needs to be transformation of the schools to support gender expansive and transgender youth. We have so many young people who have GSAs at their schools and that recognize gay and lesbian youth have are fairly accepted and recognized, but when we think about trans youth, there’s still a lot of unknowns and if we can bring education and transformation in terms of school policy, that’s really key to what we want to do.”

For more information, visit: www.illinoissafeschools.org/.

To view Mister E Machine’s new “Rosa Marie” video, visit www.themistere.com/.