Spirit Day has become a global phenomenon, with millions of people and organizations going purple around the world. For the second year, GLAAD made the Spirt Day Resource Kit available in 7 languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Mandarin, Arabic, and Russian. They are available on the Global tab of the Spirit Day site.
Filmmaker Tony Lin created a global-themed five-minute video featuring stories of LGBTQ people from London, San Francisco, and Delhi. Lin had previously created a documentary about gay elders living in Hong Kong. Watch below.
Participation has been especially strong in China. Spirit Day was trending in the TOP40 social issues on the Chinese social media site Weibo. We'll have a separate post about the many Asian organizations who went purple for Spirit Day.
This year, we have more global participation than ever. Just take a look at these global posts:
Happy #SpiritDay! Be a #GlobalAlly & join @GLAAD & our friends @_EQUALGROUND_ in Sri Lanka by wearing purple to stand up to LGBT bullying! pic.twitter.com/LpEBq2aZg9
— Global Ally (@Global_Ally) October 20, 2016
#SpiritDay is coming up on Thursday. If you are against bullying, go take a pledge at https://t.co/zREajZa7K0 & don't forget to wear purple! pic.twitter.com/EPVqtQgyWa
— tbafoundation (@tbafoundations) October 18, 2016
For @glaad #SpiritDay, our #fiveFilms4freedom panelists will wear purple ribbons to support #LGBT youth. Learn more: https://t.co/QeIlJuYLcY pic.twitter.com/d7nFKobwPG
— British Council (@usaBritish) October 19, 2016
For one day only, our entire USA site is purple to celebrate #SpiritDay with @GLAAD - https://t.co/AsaDYcUSFO pic.twitter.com/LTnzZOJHUK
— Ditch the Label (@DitchtheLabel) October 20, 2016
It's #SpiritDay & we're supporting @glaad #ZeroTolerance against younger #LGBT people being bullied @inlayterms @PaulMartin101 @NEWDRM
— LGBT Foundation (@LGBTfdn) October 20, 2016
Stand up to bullying of young LGBT people on this #SpiritDay Use our #NoRoomForHate logo as your profile picture. https://t.co/4Dh2V90MVa pic.twitter.com/R1hKmTIVKE
— Albert Kennedy Trust (@AlbertKennedyTr) October 20, 2016
To our LGBTQ+ youth community, we stand with you. No-one deserves to be bullied. #SpiritDay pic.twitter.com/ll8F8DJE6o
— TransWave (@trans_wave) October 20, 2016
Сегодня в мире отмечается #SpiritDay — День сильных духом https://t.co/e9JZim3CnU #LGBT #ЛГБТ pic.twitter.com/1KCbcIZdEy
— Gay-Alliance Ukraine (@GayAllianceUkr) October 20, 2016
. @outnewsglobal are proud media supporters of @glaad #SpiritDay Have you taken the Pledge? https://t.co/RrPHV65gUo pic.twitter.com/s6lhdHAChc
— OutNewsGlobal (@outnewsglobal) October 20, 2016
About Spirit Day
Each year, millions of people "go purple" for Spirit Day in a united stand against bullying and to show support for LGBTQ youth. According to a 2015 GLSEN survey, more than half of LGBTQ students report being victimized based on sexual orientation, with a further three quarters of students who report hearing anti-LGBTQ remarks in school. Started in 2010 by high school student Brittany McMillan, Spirit Day now draws the participation of celebrities, corporations, media outlets, sports leagues, schools, faith institutions, national landmarks, and individuals around the world, who join together in a united stand against bullying.
Check out glaad.org/spiritday for more about how to stand against bullying and show support for LGBTQ youth. Also follow @GLAAD on Twitter to keep up to date with #spiritday news.
Spirit Day is made possible by the generous support of its presenting partners Target and Wells Fargo, official partners, NBA and WNBA, NFL, Viacom, and WWE, and supporting partners, American Eagle Outfitters, Barilla, Comcast NBCUniversal, Kellogg’s, Kirkland & Ellis, Toyota Financial Services, and Zipcar. The translation of GLAAD’s Spirit Day Resource Kit into multiple languages is made possible by a generous grant from Google supporting GLAAD’s Global Voices Initiative. Global Spirit Day resource kits are presented by Logo’s Global Ally campaign.
Past participants in Spirit Day include the White House, the Empire State Building, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Laverne Cox, Kim Kardashian, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, Shaquille O'Neal, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The View, The Talk, The Tonight Show, MTV, the NBA, the NFL, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, WWE, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, the Las Vegas Strip, and more.
