GLAAD is excited to continue its partnership with Sally Hansen, Official Sponsor of Spirit Day 2021. Together, we invited and encouraged all to wear purple and show off their “Spirit Nails” with a purple manicure to take a stand against bullying and express their support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer LGBTQ youth in a visible, impactful way.
On Thursday, October 21st, the Empire State Building went “Go Purple” with a lighting display in support of Spirit Day. Sally Hansen and GLAAD hosted a Lighting Ceremony with GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, Coty SVP of Consumer Marketing Kevin Shapiro, and campaign ambassador and reigning RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 Champion Symone in attendance to kick off the celebrations.
So happy to be with @the_symonee to light the @EmpireStateBldg purple in support of LGBTQ youth for #SpiritDay! pic.twitter.com/H2dLttxG6M
— Sarah Kate Ellis (@sarahkateellis) October 21, 2021
About Spirit Day:
Each year, millions go purple for GLAAD’s Spirit Day to support LGBTQ youth in a united stand against bullying. Started in 2010 by high school student Brittany McMillan in response to numerous young LGBTQ lives lost to suicide, Spirit Day now draws the participation of celebrities, schools, faith institutions, national landmarks, corporations, media outlets, sports leagues, and advocates around the world, all joining together to stand against bullying and support LGBTQ youth.
Presenting sponsors Target, Visible, and Wells Fargo, official sponsors NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, Porsche Cars North America Inc., Sally Hansen, and Mars Wrigley’s SKITTLES, and community sponsors Amazon, Kellogg Company, Kirkland & Ellis, National Basketball Association & Women’s National Basketball Association, NFL, Nike, and Shutterfly will all participate in Spirit Day.
In 2021, Spirit Day takes on a renewed importance due to the unprecedented challenges facing LGBTQ youth. Over the last year and a half, many LGBTQ youth have not been in school, unable to attend in-person meetings of Gay-Straight Alliances, Gender-Sexuality Alliances or on-campus colleges LGBTQ organizations. During this time, LGBTQ youth have also become increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of cyberbullying, specifically with heightened levels of anti-LGBTQ hate and harassment on social media. Some LGBTQ youth may be confined to a home environment that may be unsupportive or abusive. As well, an unprecedented number of anti-LGBTQ bills in state legislatures specifically targeting trans and nonbinary youth have been in the news. Calls to The Trevor Project’s hotline for LGBTQ youth have at times more than doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
This year, Spirit Day is on October 21, 2021. Take the Spirit Day pledge to show LGBTQ youth you’ve got their backs at glaad.org/spiritday. Follow @GLAAD on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to keep up to date with #SpiritDay news.