Last Thursday GLAAD showcased participants who wore purple or went purple online for Spirit Day in a stand against bullying and to show support for LGBT youth. Spirit Day began in 2010 in remembrance of several young people who lost their lives to suicide after being bullied. Each year, GLAAD organizes hundreds of celebrities, media outlets, brands, landmarks, sports leagues, faith groups, school districts, colleges and universities to speak out for LGBT youth on Spirit Day.
Millions wear purple on Spirit Day
in a united stand against bullying and to show support for LGBT youth.
Spirit Day was started in 2010 as a response to the young people who had
taken their own lives. With GLAAD’s help, Spirit Day has since garnered
international support from celebrities, TV news and entertainment
programs, corporations, organizations, schools, local communities, and
even national landmarks.
Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox joined GLAAD to light the iconic Empire State Building in purple for Spirit Day. Cox was also joined by young people featured in the new documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word."
Other celebrity participants included Mariah Carey, Ellen DeGeneres, Fran Drescher, Ariana Grande, Nick Jonas, Ricky Martin, Debra Messing, and more.
Hosts of NBC’s “Today Show,” as well as dozens of NBC’s local broadcast affiliates across the country wore purple on air for Spirit Day. Other NBC News properties including CNBC, MSNBC, and Univision hosts also donned purple on the air for Spirit Day. Hosts of ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “The View” also wore purple and spoke out in support of Spirit Day on the air.
Viacom participated across the company’s properties, including MTV, MTV2, MTVU, Logo TV, VH1, BET, CMT, Tr3s, Comedy Central, TV Land, and Paramount Pictures. Additional television networks including ABC, ABC Family, CBS, HBO, HLN, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), Syfy, TLC, and USA also participated online and on air.
More than forty members of the United States Congress showed their support for Spirit Day and LGBT youth, and other public officials including Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Santa Fe Mayor Javier M. Gonzales also participated.
Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), National Basketball Association (NBA) & Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), National Hockey League (NHL), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) shared Spirit Day information on social media including official Facebook and Twitter accounts.
According to GLSEN's 2011 National School Climate Survey, 63.5% of LGBT students reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, 43.9% because of their gender expression. GLSEN also reported that 81.9% of LGBT students report being verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation, and 63.9% because of their gender expression.
