King Memorial Commons will host plenty of noisy traffic today, but in the midst of the commotion, one group will be silent.

In recognition of The National Day of Silence, participants from groups such as Prism will silently pass out stickers explaining the protest from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the MLK Commons.

“There are people who can’t talk about being LGBT,” said Andrea Drott, a senior accountancy major and co-president of Prism. “Not being able to talk to your friends and family about who you are is really sad.”

The National Day of Silence was founded in 1996 to recognize and protest the repression of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyles.

“I can imagine having the issues that are being focused on for this day on my mind,” sophomore OMIS major Philip Engleking said. “All that time in silence to ponder it – I imagine it could be sad, but I’ll appreciate and think about all the progress that’s been made in the LGBT movement.”

The day of action is open to anyone who wishes to participate and will culminate in a “breaking of the silence” at the Prism community gathering at United Campus Ministries, 633 W. Locust St., at 9 p.m. tonight.

Drott said the gathering is open to all and will be a chance to rejoice and know there is a place where anyone can speak and be out.

“I think it can send a powerful message if people stop to think about what it represents,” said Margaret Cook, coordinator of the LGBT resource center. “Some people feel unable to be open about who they are because of fear of backlash or fear of actual physical harm; there are strong things that keep people silent. If people really stop to think about why we do this, I think it’s going to be emotionally powerful.”