“The Day of Silence” was observed at USF on Wednesday, as well as at other schools and universities nationwide. Events were held to highlight anti-gay sentiments and biases in schools in order to make such practices less likely in the future.

Apparently, the day was even more justified than the planners originally thought, as a conservative group is now staging what they call “The Day of Truth,” an entire day focusing on teaching students how “sinful” homosexuality is.

The “days” are both permissible under the First Amendment, which allows free expression of beliefs. But the main difference is that while “The Day of Silence” focused on peaceful co-existence, “The Day of Truth” will focus on demonizing an entire group of American citizens.

There is absolutely no proof that homosexuality is a matter of choice. By essentially stating, “Homosexuals will burn in hell,” hatred is aimed at homosexuals. Sadly, this is exactly what “The Day of Silence” set out to highlight.

Naturally, groups that organize “The Day of Truth,” such as the Alliance Defense Fund, an influential lobbyist group that also backs bans against homosexual marriage, claim they are not “anti-gay,” but “pro-traditional marriage.”

The same logic was used by the Confederacy during the Civil War when Northern states attempted to free slaves, as well as by those who opposed suffrage rights for women. Sometimes “tradition” is simply wrong and needs to change. This appears to be one of those instances.

It is hard, if not impossible, to know what the true motives of such groups as the Alliance Defense Fund are, but the argument that they are simply “pro-tradition” without having any negative sentiments against homosexuals cannot be made. Whatever their motives, such groups perpetuate a world view that is based less on “love thy neighbor” than on pushing a moral agenda that perpetuates organized hatred against one particular group.