For those who may not fully understand what Spirit Day is all about, we've covered it all below. We hope that you too, stand with us in standing for our youth.
What is Spirit Day anyway?
Started by a teenager Brittany McMillan in 2010, Spirit Day is a day to support lgbt youth and pay honor and remembrance to those who took or lost their life as a result of bullying. "Going purple" refers to either/or wearing purple or changing your online profiles images to purple to show your support and solidarity. It is honored annually on October 17th. According to a 2011 survey by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), 63.5% of LGBT students indicated they felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation. Almost a whopping 82% reported being verbally harassed.
I was browsing my Tumblr blog in late September of 2010 when I came across several articles about LGBT teens who had lost their lives to suicide. Every day for a week, it seemed like there was a new suicide every time I logged in. And it made me sick.
I wanted to do something to spread awareness about the loss of these teenagers, and I wanted to show support for anyone going through similar problems. Being diagnosed with depression myself, I knew firsthand what it’s like to feel suicidal.
- Brittany McMillan, Creator of Spirit Day as told to the Advocate.com
That's nice, but how does that help?
It shows that you are taking a stand against bullying and that you agree that bullying an individual because of their sexual orientation (or any reason) will not be tolerated. It just takes one person to stand up to make a statement. All individuals, organizations and companies are encouraged to take a stand on this day in support of the youth who were lost. It is about awareness and unity among the LGBT community and our allies. The goal is that out of these tragedies the lives lost are not in vain but serve as a movement for us all to ensure that we make a safer place for LGBT youth to exist and thrive without the threat of bullying.
Oh, I see...but why purple?
Great question! There are six colors of the gay pride rainbow flag, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Purple, symbolizes spirit; hence why this color was chosen.
Okay, what can I do?
Well, for starters...wear purple! When someone asks you why you're wearing purple, tell them! Change your business and personal profile pictures on Facebook or Twitter to purple. Here are some other ideas:
- Do a blog post, declaring your support
- Send out a special notice to your subscriber base explaining why Spirit Day is important to you
- Share details about Spirit Day on your social networks
- It's a perfect time to review your marketing materials to ensure they are inclusive and LGBT-friendly (we can help with this, email info(at)sayido(dot)com for details
- Encourage others to show their support as well!
"Going purple" is the least we can do to show that we are anti-bullying, we'd love to see what you do to stand in solidarity with the millions of people, businesses and organizations who believe enough is enough. We should not have to loose one life to bullying. Post your links in the comment section to your content and networks so we can see how you went purple. We'd love to see it and support you as well!
Celebrities who went purple today: Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Nick Cannon, Melissa Etheridge, Kristen Bell and the list goes on and on.
For more information visit: http://www.glaad.org.
Celebrities who went purple today: Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Nick Cannon, Melissa Etheridge, Kristen Bell and the list goes on and on.
For more information visit: http://www.glaad.org.
