SPIRIT DAY CELEBRATES 10 YEARS TODAY AND SENDS GLOBAL MESSAGE OF SUPPORT TO LGBTQ YOUTH

Mathew Lasky
Director of Communications, GLAAD
mlasky@glaad.org

GLAAD SPIRIT DAY VIDEOS FEATURE 2020 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES JOE BIDEN, CORY BOOKER, PETE BUTTIGIEG, KAMALA HARRIS, AND AMY KLOBUCHAR SENDING MESSAGES TO LGBTQ YOUTH

Bebe Rexha, Idina Menzel, Shea Diamond, Emily Hampshire, Monique Heart, Troye Sivan, Jesse Saint John, Jozzy, Frankie Grande, and more kick off Spirit Day at Justin Tranter’s ‘BEYOND’ concert and raise over $400k for GLAAD’s work with LGBTQ youth

Sterling K. Brown, Andy Cohen, James Corden, Billy Ray Cyrus, Elvis Duran, Hannah Hart, Helen Hunt, Jazz Jennings, Nicole Maines, Ross Matthews, Olivia Newton-John, Trevor Noah, Adam Rippon, Paul Reiser, Angelica Ross, Willow Smith, Yara Shahidi, Shangela, Bex Taylor-Klaus, the cast of ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ Tegan & Sara and more to go purple for annual anti-LGBTQ bullying campaign, Spirit Day, October 17

CNBC, Good Morning America, TODAY, CNN New Day, Despierta America, EXTRA, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, KABC-TV, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, A Little Late with Lilly Singh, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Red Table Talk, Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, The Dr. Oz Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, The View, Strahan, Sara and Keke, Despierta América, Univision hosts to recognize Spirit Day and stand up against bullying on-air

New York, NY – Thursday, October 17, 2019 – GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, announced participants wearing purple or going purple online today for Spirit Day in a united stand against bullying and show of support for LGBTQ young people. Since the inaugural Spirit Day in 2010, GLAAD organizes hundreds of celebrities, media outlets, brands, landmarks, sports leagues, tech leaders, influencers, faith groups, school districts, organizations, colleges and universities in what has become the most visible anti-LGBTQ bullying campaign and united show of support for LGBTQ youth. Purple symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag.

For more on Spirit Day: /spiritday, #SpiritDay. GLAAD will be sharing content from participants all day on GLAAD’s twitter.

For journalists, a list of live links to select social media posts from celebrities and other notables will be updated throughout the day and is available here.

In honor of Spirit Day, Democratic Presidential candidates Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar offer powerful words advice to LGBTQ youth. Check out the videos below:

Joe Biden: https://youtu.be/9eTp9Vl3e2g

Cory Booker: https://youtu.be/nUGdLUQQn3c

Pete Buttigieg: https://youtu.be/zfwjALeLKPo

Kamala Harris: https://youtu.be/voW2Ygk-uJ0

Amy Klobuchar: https://youtu.be/vzw9Bch9tyk

GLAAD’s initial list of confirmed 2019 Spirit Day participants including celebrity, media, athletes, and landmarks follows.

Spirit Day presenting partners Pantene and Target, official partners Kellogg’s and the NBA & WNBA, as well as community partners Amazon, Johnson & Johnson, Kirkland & Ellis, and Wells Fargo will all participate in the anti-bullying campaign today.

Songwriter, activist and GLAAD Board Member Justin Tranter hosted the third annual ‘BEYOND,’ a Spirit Day concert benefiting GLAAD sponsored by the Ariadne Getty Foundation, CAA, and Ketel One Family-Made Vodka last night in Los Angeles. Over 500 guests attended BEYOND, which raised more than $400k for GLAAD’s advocacy work, a record for the event. This year BEYOND showcased performances from Tranter, Bebe Rexha, Idina Menzel, as well as LGBTQ singer-songwriters Jesse Saint John and Jozzy. Guests included Troye Sivan, Shea Diamond, Monique Heart (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek), August Getty, Frankie Grande, Parson James, Stephanie Rice, Karl Schmid, and Angel Bonilla.

Photos from the event available here: https://assignments.gettyimages.com/v2/share/1fd2659d-af88-4d94-84f7-7c61ef92f1d0?page=1&order=desc

In the lead up to Spirit Day, GLAAD released videos of celebrities discussing bullying and calling for Spirit Day participation:

Angelica Ross: https://youtu.be/fs-V213aGRo

Jameela Jamil: https://youtu.be/rkKI2WduKnc

Adam Rippon: https://youtu.be/Oqp–teSrOA

Karamo Brown: https://youtu.be/R1oTt6lvD2c

Paula Abdul: https://youtu.be/VW32ekLOnJc

Patricia Arquette: https://youtu.be/A_sKrMmqa14

Dan Levy: https://youtu.be/BOqSWKLjXUw

Jaboukie Young-White: https://youtu.be/Ql39LR-KFDE

Peppermint: https://youtu.be/ILoE2Fbfyfg

Nina West: https://youtu.be/awTHn__sl88

Grammy-award winning artist and LGBTQ ally Kacey Musgraves helped to kick off Spirit Day by donating two VIP seats and a special backstage meet and greet to GLAAD to her sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall in NYC on October 15. Check out her photo with the contest winner here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B3sLa4sgAvl/.

Networks and platforms including CBS, Disney|ABC Television, FOX, Freeform, HBO, Hulu, iHeart Media, NBC, Pop TV, Showtime, The CW, Viacom, WarnerMedia will participate on social media or through talent. WarnerMedia is turning the entire Vessel structure outside of their new headquarters in New York’s Hudson Yards purple for the occasion. Media outlets including OUT, The Advocate, Billboard Pride, and Go Magazine will also participate.

Cast members from Schitt’s Creek, Mad About You, One Day at a Time, Shameless, The L Word: Generation Q, Work in Progress, Black Monday, God Friended Me, The Neighborhood, Broke, Carole’s Second Act, Evil, Dead To Me, Diary of a Female President, Madam Secretary, Hawaii Five-0, Magnum P.I., Tommy, Mom, Bob Hearts Abishola, Young Sheldon, FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, SEAL Team, S.W.A.T., Bull, MacGyver, The Unicorn, Florida Girls, All Rise, The Bold and the Beautiful, Let’s Make a Deal, Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca, and Lucky Dog with Brandon McMillan, will all participate in Spirit Day.

Additional participants include:

Abisha, Anne-Marie, Jack Be, Molly Bernard, Dylan Brady, Wayne Brady, Raymond Braun, Sterling K. Brown, Leah Capelle, Margaret Cho, Andy Cohen, Billy Ray Cyrus, Matt Czuchry, Taylor Dayne, Leon Else, Richard Fowler, Daniel Frazese, Chelsea Frei, Billy Gilman, Tom Goss, Kat Graham, Mollee Gray, Mickey Guyton, Carlie Hanson, Hannah Hart, Tiffany Hendra, Ty Herndon, Helen Hunt, Jazz Jennings, Jenna Johnson-Chmerkovskiy, Alex Landi, Livvia, LeeAnne Locken, Sandra Lynn, Nicole Maines, Jenny March, Ross Matthews, Casey McQuillen, Bethany Meyers, Rita Moreno, Morgxn, Manny MUA, Olivia Newton-John, Trevor Noah, Olivia Ooms, Emily Osment, Nicky Paris, Nicole Ari Parker, Dasha Polanco, Paul Reiser, Brody Ray, Bebe Rexha, Adam Rippon, Angelica Ross, Joshua Rush, Phoebe Ryan, Karl Schmid, Yara Shahidi, Shangela, Christian Siriano, Jeremy Sisto, Jaclyn Smith, Cub Sport, Brandon Stansell, Tegan & Sara, the cast of LOVE & MARRIAGE: HUNTSVILLE, the cast of ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ Bex Taylor-Klaus, Zeke Thomas, Tiffani Thiessen, Nico Tortorella, Justin Tranter, Girl Ultra, Lisa Vanderpump, and Carlos Vera.

On-air broadcasts of CNBC, Good Morning America, TODAY, CNN New Day, Despierta America, EXTRA, Entertainment Tonight, Access Live, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, A Little Late with Lilly Singh, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, The Dr. Oz Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, The View, Strahan, Sara and Keke, Despierta América and Univision will participate by wearing purple on Spirit Day. On-air logos of MTV, Logo, VH1, CBS Interactive, and the Batwoman signal will also turn purple today for Spirit Day.

In honor of Spirit Day, CNBC employees across the globe will wear purple on October 17th to show support for LGBTQ youth. The network’s peacock logo will turn purple across platforms on-air, online and on CNBC’s flagship social media handles. CNBC has supported the GLAAD initiative since its inception ten years ago.

Sports leagues including NBA/WNBA, MLB, NFL, WWE. Athlete Ally, MLS are all scheduled to participate in Spirit Day.

Comcast Cable donated $2M in PSA airtime across their cable systems, reaching homes in 39 states. The PSA features GLAAD Campus Ambassadors and can be viewed here: https://twitter.com/glaad/status/1184631403159441408

Landmarks that will go purple for Spirit Day include the Vessel at Hudson Yards in New York, AT&T’s Global HQ in downtown Dallas, The Spheres at Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, and the Viacom, Thomson Reuters, NASDAQ, and American Eagle billboards in Times Square in New York City.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and its UN Free & Equal campaign also partnered with GLAAD for Spirit Day. The UN Free & Equal campaign has created an emotive campaign video, titled “Purple the World,” calling for action against anti-LGBTIQ bullying. The video is available in 7 languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, English, Russian, Portuguese and Spanish). Watch the “Purple the World” video here. UN Free & Equal has also created a landing page for Spirit Day, where visitors can educate themselves about the human rights concerns facing LGBTIQ youth and find information about how allies, teachers, and governments can support LGBTIQ children who are being bullied. To access the unique Spirit Day landing page, visit https://www.unfe.org/spiritday/.

“With LGBTQ rights under attack on a near-daily basis, Spirit Day could not be happening at a more critical time,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President and CEO. “On Thursday, LGBTQ young people will be flooded with messages of support from their peers, teachers, favorite celebrities, athletes, and more notables all reminding them that they are not alone. What a powerful and refreshing change of pace from the divisive rhetoric and bullying that have become all too common today’s charged political and cultural climate.”

GLAAD previously announced the release of a LGBTQ-inclusive children’s book titled, Spirit Day: A Book About Spreading Joy. In partnership with Little Bee Books, Spirit Day: A Book About Spreading Joy is the sixth book to be released in an ongoing series of LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books. Illustrated by Joy Yang, Spirit Day: A Book About Spreading Joy is a beautiful, bold board book that teaches children about Spirit Day and its mission to stop bullying. The title can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and at various in-store locations.

Coinciding with National Bullying Prevention Month, Spirit Day began in 2010 when then high school student Brittany McMillan created a Tumblr post asking students to wear purple following the suicide deaths of several LGBTQ and LGBTQ-perceived young people.

According to GLSEN’s most recent National School Climate Survey, 70.1% of LGBTQ students report being verbally harassed. Additionally, 59.5% of LGBTQ students feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 44.6% because of their gender expression. GLSEN also reported that 87.3% of LGBTQ students experienced harassment or assault based on personal characteristics, including sexual orientation, gender expression, gender, religion, actual or perceived race and ethnicity, and actual or perceived disability.

For more information on Spirit Day, visit /spiritday.