The Wisconsin Radio Network has reported that students from more than one hundred high schools took part a day of silence attempting to draw attention to the violence that continues to trouble the gay and lesbian community in the state on Friday.

Levels of hate crimes remain consistent despite the accepting consensus of homosexuality increasing throughout the state. In response to the hostility, hundreds if not thousands of students took a vow of silence for the day to highlight the necessity of the violence to end.

Gay-Straight Alliance for Safe Schools representative Timothy Michael said to the Wisconsin Radio Network that students faced verbal taunts, discrimination and physical violence on a daily basis, and that the vow of silence was to represent the silence that discrimination is often met with in many communities.

A number of social groups opposed the event, stating that the vow of silence promotes unhealthy gay lifestyles in schools.

Tags: gay usa, glbt