The Cornell University lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is planning a broad range of cultural and educational programs throughout "Gaypril," Cornell's way of celebrating LGBT heritage, instilling pride and strengthening solidarity during the academic year. (Gay pride is celebrated nationally in June.)

The capstone event will be Cornell's participation in a National Day of Silence on Wednesday, April 9, when participants will take a vow of silence from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to Carlisle Douglas, coordinator of Cornell's Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Resource Office, the event serves to raise awareness of the silence that members of the LGBT community face daily, to increase visibility of the community and its supporters and to provoke discussion of what can be done to end the silence. More than 80 U.S. and Canadian colleges and high schools are participating in the National Day of Silence.

The Cornell action will include a silent demonstration in front of Willard Straight Hall at noon. For more information, call Megan or Kameelah of the Day of Silence Coalition at 254-4987.

Another major event will be a mini-conference titled "Queer Academics at Work in Public Policy: What's All This About Family Values?" on Saturday, April 12, from 1 to 5 p.m. in Room G-08 Uris Hall. The conference is being held in conjunction with the Family Values Lecture Series and is free and open to the public.

At 1 p.m., John D'Emilio, director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Policy Institute, will give a talk titled "Laying Claim to Family Politics and Family Values." A former professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, he founded the first Gay Academic Union in 1973. At 2:30 p.m., Nan Hunter, professor at Brooklyn Law School, will give a talk titled "Degendering Family Values." She has worked on lesbian and gay rights and AIDS issues for the American Civil Liberties Union and in the Department of Health and Human Services during President Clinton's first term.

Other Gaypril programs include:

• Wednesday, April 2: Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Studies open meeting, with pizza; 5:30 p.m., 258 Goldwin Smith Hall.
• Thursday, April 3: "Resources for Families with LGB Members: Parents, Siblings, Children," 6:30 -- 8:30 p.m. To register, contact the Work and Family Program, 255-3649, or the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Resource Office at 254-4987.
• Friday, April 4: John McNeill, author of The Church and the Homosexual and Taking a Chance on God, will give a talk titled "Gay and Lesbian Spirituality," 4 p.m., Founders Room of Anabel Taylor Hall.
• Monday, April 7: George Chauncey, author of Gay New York and a professor of history at the University of Chicago, will give a lecture titled "The Strange Career of the Closet: Gay Culture, Consciousness and Politics from the Second World War to the Stonewall Era," 4:30 p.m., Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall.
• Wednesday, April 9: National Day of Silence (see above).
• Saturday, April 12: Mini-conference (see above).
• Tuesday, April 15: Faculty Fireside presents "Teaching Sex" with Ellis Hanson, assistant professor of English and lesbian, bisexual and gay studies, 6 p.m., Willard Straight Hall Art Gallery.
• Saturday, April 19: LGBT dance, 9 p.m. -- 1 a.m., Memorial Room, Willard Straight Hall.
• Saturday, April 26: Out Loud (Ithaca GLB Chorus) "Gay La," 7 - 11 p.m., Clinton House. Guest performance by Robin Burnett and silent auction. Donations of $10 requested.
• Saturday, May 3: Risley Drag Ball, 9 p.m. -- 1 a.m., Risley Dining Hall.

Also, from April 12 to May 3, the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Resource Office will present an exhibit in the main display case of Day Hall featuring the activities and services of the resource office and materials on notable LGBT Cornell alumni.

Several Cornell departments and organizations are sponsoring the above programs. For more information on any of them, contact the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Resource Office at (607) 254-4987 or send e-mail to lgbro@cornell.edu.