The National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Women’s Basketball Association (WNBA), Major League Soccer (MLS), the New York Stock Exchange, Times Square and Facebook will join hundreds of celebrities, corporations, news outlets and schools, as well as millions of Americans in wearing purple for Spirit Day on October 19 in a stand against bullying and to show their support for LGBT youth.

The NBA, WNBA and MLS will participate through their social media channels. The iconic New York Stock Exchange will light up in purple for Spirit Day, and the Thomson Reuters screen in Times Square will turn purple throughout the day on October 19. Facebook will go purple on select national pages and circulate information about Spirit Day to its employees globally.

GLAAD and Toyota Financial Services today also launched the “Go Purple for #SpiritDay powered by Toyota Financial Services” apps for iPhone and Android. The app provides users with anti-bullying resources, calls to action, and a tool that can turn photos purple and share to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The free app is now available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

“Everyone at Toyota Financial Services, and across the Toyota family, is proud and excited to be a part of this year’s Spirit Day,” said Ann Bybee, Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Communications & Community Relations. “Going purple for the day is a small but powerful way we can all show our support for those who have been bullied or who fear being bullied. It is so important to raise awareness that bullying isn’t acceptable. At Toyota, we have always embraced a guiding principle of ‘respect for people,’ which has made us the company we are today. And it is a principle that includes not only our employees and customers, but everyone, without exception.”

GLAAD also launched the ‘19 Days of Action,’ a countdown to Spirit Day that provides supporters with one simple action they can take daily to combat bullying. More information and a list of actions is available at http://glaad.org/spiritday or on the “Go Purple for #SpiritDay powered by Toyota Financial Services” iPhone and Adroid apps.

Visit our Spirit Day page to take the pledge to go purple on Spirit Day. Also, help spread the word on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr! 

You can also check out a list of our Spirit Day Ambassadors on our website.