Kirkland & Ellis has been a proud sponsor of Spirit Day since 2013. Spirit Day wouldn’t be possible without ongoing support from generous annual partners like Kirkland & Ellis.
Each year, the Kirkland & Ellis teams meet in offices around the world to celebrate Spirit Day, go purple, and support LGBTQ youth. This year, in lieu of in person gatherings, the firm hosted Zoom meetups for their global teams to mark the day and have conversations about diversity and inclusion in their daily lives and work.
Throughout the day, Kirkland & Ellis encouraged employees to go purple and use a purple Spirit Day Zoom background to participate in the virtual gathering as well as their client meetings. The firm also held an internal “go purple” photo submission challenge to maximize participation.
LGBTQ youth are disproportionately affected by bullying, with 70% of LGBTQ youth reporting being verbally or physically harassed. Spirit Day is a chance for everyone to show their support for the community and fight back against bullying. To learn more, visit glaad.org/SpiritDay.
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 partners Delta Air Lines, Kellogg Company, and Target, official partners Amazon, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development and the New York City Council, and Skittles, as well as community partners Kirkland & Ellis, NBA & WNBA will all participate in 2020 Spirit Day.
In 2020, Spirit Day takes on a renewed importance due to the unprecedented challenges facing LGBTQ youth. This year, many LGBTQ youth are beginning the school year at home and are unable to attend in-person meetings of Gay-Straight Alliances, Gender-Sexuality Alliances or on-campus college LGBTQ organizations. Some LGBTQ youth may be confined to a home environment that may be unsupportive or abusive. 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 15, 2020. Take the Spirit Day pledge to show LGBTQ youth you’ve got their backs at glaad.org/spiritday. Follow @GLAAD on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to keep up to date with #SpiritDay news.