Freedom to Marry goes purple for Spirit Day!

By Adam Polaski
Oct 19, 2012 at 11:45 am

Today is Spirit Day, an annual day when millions of Americans wear purple as a symbol of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans people across the country. Freedom to Marry is joining the ranks of people speaking out against bullying by wearing purple today and going purple on our Facebook. 

Hundreds of other organizations, public figures, and landmarks - including all of the major professional sports leagues, the Las Vegas Strip, the MTV building in Times Square, and dozens of celebrities like Ricky Martin, Reba McEntire, Paris Hilton, Joel McHale, and Shaquille O'Neal - are also going purple today.

This year marks the third celebration of Spirit Day, which was started in 2010 by teenager Brittany McMillan, who asked her friends to wear purple in memory of people who had lost their lives to bullying. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has helped grow the event into a national effort, making it bigger and better than ever this year. GLAAD has helped Spirit Day to garner widespread support from celebrities, TV news programs, corporations, organizations, schools, and national landmarks.

This week is also Ally Week, organized by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and October is National Bullying Prevention Month.

Visit GLAAD's Spirit Day hub to learn more about Spirit Day. And click on our staff photo below to "like" it on Facebook!