Community Commentary:

The Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society of Los Angeles commends Glendale Unified School District Supt. Michael Escalante for his willingness to uphold his students’ First Amendment rights, which were expressed through the Day of Silence event (“Parents blast Day of Silence,” April 25).

We are glad that the Glendale Unified School District and other area school districts support these events that seek to increase awareness of sexual orientation issues.

The Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society of Los Angeles is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to foster acceptance and promote equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We at the society have tried as adults to create the kind of place we didn’t have as children — a place where we can be ourselves without fearing for our safety.

We want to state unequivocally that the handful of Armenian parents who were vitriolic in their opposition to the Day of Silence do not represent the entire Armenian community. The members of the Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society of Los Angeles and our many supportive family members and friends belong to the Glendale and Los Angeles Armenian communities, and we all believe that there can be no tolerance for bullying and harassment of any student, regardless of his or her sexual orientation.

We condemn the homophobic comments that were aired on a recent Armenian television program. They were irresponsible since such speech can cause disastrous consequences for children, who might go so far as to commit suicide or substance abuse as a result of rejection from their families.

Naira Khachatrian was simply wrong when she said, “This is not a school issue. This is an adult issue.” The mistreatment of children at school is an issue for all the parties involved — parents, school administrators, teachers and, most of all, children.

All parents must support what the Day of Silence stands for; after all, anyone’s sons or daughters are at risk for bullying or harassment, whether it be for their real or perceived sexual identity.