#SpiritDay 2024, Organized by GLAAD Kicks Off with Opening Bell at Nasdaq, Major Sports Leagues, Talk Shows, Celebrities and More

#SPIRITDAY 2024: THE WORLD’S MOST VISIBLE ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT LGBTQ YOUTH ORGANIZED BY GLAAD LEADS WITH PARTICIPATION FROM PRO SPORTS LEAGUES, NATIONAL NETWORKS, CELEBRITIES AND MORE 

GLAAD RINGS NASDAQ STOCK MARKET OPENING BELL LIVE IN TIMES SQUARE ALONGSIDE LGBTQ MOVEMENT LEADERS, LGBTQ CREATORS AND CREATIVES IN UNITED STAND AGAINST BULLYING KICKING OFF #SPIRITDAY 2024 

THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL, MEGAN HILTY, TY HERNDON, PELOTON’S MATTY MAGGIACOMO, BRAUNWYN WINDHAM-SPINNER, PAOLO PRESTA, FRANKIE GRANDE, BRAVO TV, CBS, CNBC, MSNBC’S MORNING JOE, THE NBA, THE NFL’S GOOD MORNING FOOTBALL, RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE, THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT, THE VIEW, THE TALK, WNBA, TAKE PART IN #SPIRITDAY 2024 ORGANIZED BY GLAAD

New York, New York, Thursday, October 17, 2024 – Today, GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization rang the Nasdaq Stock Market Opening Bell live in Times Square to kick off #SpiritDay and announced participants of the most visible anti-LGBTQ bullying campaign and united show of support for LGBTQ youth.

At the Nasdaq Market Site, GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis (she/her) was joined by the GLAAD staff based in New York, members of GLAAD’s Board, The Trevor Project’s CEO Jaymes Black (they/she/he) and Kevin Wong (he/him), The Ali Forney Center’s Steve Cruz (he/him) and Paul Cruz (he/him), and The Stonewall National Monument Visitors Center’s Tom Bagley (he/him) and Annie Willis (she/her), alongside LGBTQ creators and creatives part of GLAAD’s storytelling pipeline programs, together with influential voices and LGBTQ community thought leaders, to ring the opening bell at Nasdaq and kick off #SpiritDay.

Additional attendees and special guests included former NFL defensive end R.K. Russell, activist, performer and drag artist Marti Gould Cummings, comedian Corey O’Brien, LGBTQ activist Kaia Ferrari, SoundCloud Chief Diversity Officer Antonious Porch, Chef Denevin Miranda, podcast host Jordan Hall among others.

Press Photos from the Nasdaq Opening Bell Ceremony are available HERE.

Video of the Nasdaq Opening Bell Ceremony are available HERE.

Since the inaugural #SpiritDay in 2010, GLAAD has organized hundreds of celebrities, media outlets, brands, landmarks, sports leagues, 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 by going purple.

Purple also symbolizes spirit on the LGBTQ Pride flag.

For more, visit glaad.org/spiritday and follow #SpiritDay on social media.

CAMPAIGN PARTICIPATION:

Select #SpiritDay participation posts live as of this morning:

• ABC7, BravoTV, CBS, LOGO TV, CNBC, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Queerty, Telemundo, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The TODAY Show, The View
• NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, MLB, NBA, WNBA
• Braunwyn Windham-Spinner, Frankie Grande, Matty Maggiacomo, Megan Hilty, Paolo Presta, Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Speaker of the New York City Council Adrienne Adams, SIX on Broadway, Ty Herndon
• Amnesty International, Congressional Equality Caucus, GMHC, New York State Education Dept., NOH8 Campaign, Naming Project, NY City Council, Poder Latinx, UN Free & Equal an initiative of the United Nations Human Rights Office

See and track the #SpiritDay conversation on social media HERE.

CNBC participated in #SpiritDay, turning its logo both on broadcast and across digital purple, with on-air talent around the U.S., Europe and Asia wearing purple in support of LGBTQ youth.

iHeartMedia supported #SpiritDay for an eighth year by running national PSA spots across its radio network leading up to #SpiritDay and featuring social and editorial online coverage.

Other national news networks, shows, outlets and distributors that are slated to participate in #SpiritDay this year includes: Access Hollywood, Access Daily, CBS, “Despierta América” (TelevisaUnivision), E! News, “FBI: Most Wanted”, NBC5 Dallas-Fort Worth, OUT@NBC, PRIDE ABC News, “Primer Impacto” (TelevisaUnivision), among others.

Celebrities and creators including, Amy Schneider, Billy Eichner, The Blessed Madonna, Bryan Ruby, Chris Housman, Chris Mosier, Corey O’Brien, the Broadway cast of Death Becomes Her, Forest Claudette, Francesca Noel, Julie Williams, Kathy Hilton, Katie Kadan, Liza Colon-Zayas, Loren Allred, Luxx Noir London, Marcia Gay Harden, Malika Andrews, Margaret Cho, Marisa Bode, Marlilu Henner, Paul Feig, Rebecca Zamolo, Rett, Madison, Roxy Sternberg, Sophia Scott, Sterling K. Brown, Tramell Tillman, VINCINT, Xunami Muse, among others will participate in #SpiritDay 2024.

Faith leaders, global organizations and nonprofits including, Interfaith Alliance, Communion Play, ELCA – Southeastern Synod, Yass, Jesus!, Wartburg Theological Seminary are expected to go purple for #SpiritDay 2024.

Landmarks including The Terminal Tower in Cleveland, Cleveland’s Signature Skyscraper, The Bank of America Plaza in Dallas, among others are slated to go purple for #SpiritDay 2024 in support of LGBTQ youth.

Additionally, the Kansas City, Missouri City Skyline will be lit purple Thursday evening for Spirit Day. From City Hall to the Historic Kansas City Power and Light Building to Kansas City’s very own Union Station, all of Kansas City’s downtown historic buildings will light the night sky purple to stand in solidarity with LGBTQ youth across the region and country on #SpiritDay.

#SpiritDay Community Sponsors this year include: Hyundai, Kirkland & Ellis, the NFL, the NBA, the WNBA, the New York City Department Education, the New York City Council. This year’s “A Night of Broadway,” #SpiritDay Gala hosted by Frankie Grande at The Box in New City was presented by McDonald’s.

Previous #SpiritDay participants include the Obama White House, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the Empire State Building, Oprah Winfrey, Sec. Hillary Clinton, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Kerry Washington, Halle Berry, Laverne Cox, Celine Dion, Shaquille O’Neal, Sam Smith, Jimmy Kimmel, Troye Sivan, Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, The View, The Talk, The Tonight Show, the NBA and WNBA, all Major League Baseball teams, NASCAR, WWE, Meta, the Las Vegas Strip, and many more.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE 2024 #SPIRITDAY RESOURCE KIT

FRANKIE GRANDE’S #SPIRITDAY 2024 GALA:

As previously announced, actor, performer, activist and member of GLAAD’s Board of Directors, Frankie Grande, curated and hosted “A Night of Broadway (but make it Queer!)” #SpiritDay Gala, presented by McDonald’s, gathered some of Broadway’s brightest stars to shine a light on LGBTQ youth and take a stand against bullying. The live music event took place at The Box in New York City and included performances by Tony Award nominee Orfeh, Tony Award nominee Lilli Cooper, Salina Estitties (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Antwayn Hopper (Cats: The Jellicle Ball, A Strange Loop), Emma Hunton (Freeform’s Good Trouble, Wicked), Troy Iwata (The Daily Show), rapper Jade Jones, Courtney Reed (Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Broadway’s Aladdin), Nina West (RuPaul’s Drag Race), the cast of Bucks County Playhouse’s The Rocky Horror Story.

Photos from the event HERE, courtesy GETTY Images for GLAAD.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE 2024 #SPIRITDAY RESOURCE KIT

About #SpiritDay

GLAAD organizes celebrities, media outlets, brands, landmarks, sports leagues, faith groups, school districts, organizations, colleges and universities in what has become the most visible anti-LGBTQ bullying campaign in the world. Purple symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag.

The annual tradition was started in 2010 by GLAAD and then high school student Brittany McMillan, in memory of the LGBTQ youth who died by suicide. McMillan encouraged her friends to wear purple on a day in October — a day that came to be known as #SpiritDay.

Today, LGBTQ youth, and especially trans and nonbinary youth, are experiencing a level of scrutiny in schools we have never seen, leading to an environment rife with stressors beyond the peer-to-peer bullying of the past. From book bans, to bans on trans youth in sports, to bathroom restrictions and teachers barred from using correct pronouns, the means by which a student can express themselves and see others like them are increasingly being challenged.

GLAAD’s 2024 Social Media Safety Index illuminates the epidemic of anti-LGBTQ hate, harassment, and disinformation across major social media platforms, and especially made note of high-follower hate accounts and right-wing figures who continue to manufacture and circulate most of this activity. This anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online manifests into real-life harm and has been cited as drivers of many of the more than 600 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in states around the country this year alone, many of which target transgender people and LGBTQ youth.

Last year, GLAAD’s #SpiritDay Index survey found:

• 95% of non-LGBTQ adults say schools should be a safe and accepting place for all youth
• 95% of non-LGBTQ adults say parent’s should support and love their child(ren) exactly as they are
• 93% of non-LGBTQ adults say I believe children should be taught to appreciate and accept people as they are
• 88% of non-LGBTQ adults say youth should be provided access to the factual information they need to make decisions that are right for them

Additional GLAAD research including our analysis on LGBTQ representation in TV, Film, Gaming and more can be found at GLAAD.org/Publications.

Take the #SpiritDay Pledge to show LGBTQ youth you’ve got their backs at glaad.org/spiritday.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE 2024 #SPIRITDAY RESOURCE KIT