Dianne Feinstein: “students have fallen silent in schools all across the country today to bring attention to the discrimination and…”

“students have fallen silent in schools all across the country today to bring attention to the discrimination and harassment of our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, GLBT, youth. The voices that won't be heard today belong to the participants of a national project called the Day of Silence. The Day of Silence was conceived more than 6 years ago by Maria Pulzetti, then a student at the University of Virginia, after she wrote a paper on nonviolent protest and grassroots organizing. It encourages students to take a nine-hour pledge of silence to represent the silence that GLBT students face because of harassment, discrimination and prejudice at their schools. Since the first-ever Day of Silence at the University of Virginia in 1996, the event has grown in size each year. This year, thousands of students will be participating from more than 1,776 middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities in 49 States, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, including at least 136 schools in my State of California. This year's effort will easily be the largest in its history.”