GLAAD Spirit Day: Go Purple

Today, October 18, marks the 10th annual GLAAD Spirit Day in support of LGBTQ youth and against bullying. According to GLAAD, Spirit Day was started in 2009 when Brittany McMillan wrote a tumblr post asking people to wear purple after several LGBTQ suicides. Since then, it’s become an important day to show LGBTQ youth that they deserve to live free from harassment and bullying and to celebrate their own beauty.

GLAAD board member Justin Tranter hosted the third annual Spirit Day benefit concert, called “BEYOND.”  Performers included Bebe Rexha, Idina Menzel, and Jesse Saint John. Shea Diamond, Troye Sivan, Parson James, and Monique Heart from RuPaul’s Drag Race were among the list of guests.

Spirit Day is an opportunity for companies, organizations, sports teams, celebrities, and individuals to express their support for LGBTQ youth. Presidential candidates Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar also released videos giving LGBTQ youth words of support. Casts of shows like One Day at a Time, The Bold Type, and Schitt’s Creek also conveyed their support for LGBTQ youth.

The work isn’t Close to Done.

Even though there have been a decade of Spirit Days, LGBTQ youth still need our support. According to GLSEN’s National School Climate Survey, 70.1 percent of LGBTQ students report being verbally harassed. Additionally, 59.5 percent of LGBTQ students feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 44.6 percent because of their gender expression. The pain of bullying on LGBTQ youth takes its toll. Thirty-nin percent of LGBTQ youth have considered suicide in the past year, and that percentage increases by 15 for trans and nonbinary youth.

Please take Spirit Day as an opportunity to wear purple and support the LGBTQ youth around you. They need our help, and they deserve our love while we fight to create a better world that lets them flourish as they are.