Stars 'Go Purple' on Twitter and Facebook

October 20, 2010, New York, NY - Millions of Americans today joined the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in wearing purple in recognition of 'Spirit Day' and to show support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth.

A list of media, celebrities, organizations and bloggers participating in Spirit Day can be seen, updated in real time here:
http://glaadblog.org/2010/10/20/today-show-the-view-the-talk-and-ellen-degeneres-among-those-going-purple-for-spirit-day/.

Spirit Day now counts millions of Americans committed on Facebook to wearing the color purple on October 20, 2010, to remember youth lost to anti-LGBT bullying. Hundreds of thousands of Americans also 'went purple' by changing their Facebook and Twitter photos to purple at http://www.glaad.org/spiritday.

Hosts of CNBC, E! News, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Joy Behar Show, MSNBC, The Talk, The Today Show, and The View all participated by wearing purple on the air today. In addition, E!, People en Español and TooFab.com joined the campaign online today.

Celebrities also joined the campaign by changing their Twitter and Facebook profile photos to purple using GLAAD's free application at http://www.glaad.org/SpiritDay or by announcing they were wearing purple online, including Clay Aiken, Lance Bass, Christian Chavez, Kristin Chenoweth, Wilson Cruz, the Dixie Chicks, Kathy Griffin, Darren Hayes, Perez Hilton, Khloe Kardashian, Cyndi Lauper, Jay Manuel, Ricky Martin, Alyssa Milano, Corey Monteith, Amber Riley, Joan Rivers, Paulina Rubio, Ryan Seacrest, Tegan and Sara, Tracy Thoms, Jenna Ushkowitz, Kate Walsh, Johnny Weir, Chely Wright, and  Jill Zarin.  

 "E! News" anchors Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic, along with "E! News Now" anchors Amy Paffrath and Melana Scantlin, will wear purple on the air today. E! Online will also participate in Spirit Day by making all of its story headlines and breaking news banners purple throughout the day and posting a photo gallery of celebrities wearing purple in support of the cause.  Employees of Comcast Entertainment Group (E!, Style Network and G4) have also been encouraged to wear purple. Logo, the first LGBT network, featured a purple ribbon on its programs today and encourages employees to wear purple as well.

MTV Networks (MTV, Nickelodeon, Vh1, Comedy Central, Spike, etc.) confirmed with GLAAD that a memo was distributed to all employees with information about Spirit Day and MTV will also be giving out thousands of purple ribbons to staff.

Joel Burns, the Fort Worth, Texas, councilman joined host Ellen DeGeneres in wearing purple on The Ellen DeGeneres Show during his appearance today.  GLAAD provided media relations assistance and interview preparation after his City Council speech regarding bullying became a viral YouTube phenomenon.

"By wearing purple online and offline today, millions of Americans are sending an important message to let gay and lesbian youth know that they are supported for being exactly who they are," said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios.

Logo will be airing a purple ribbon all day,  and network staff is also wearing purple. Logo  traded its trademark pink on its Twitter account.

Several local and national organizations have also signed on to support Spirit Day, including Equality California, Equality Illinois, Equality New Mexico, Equality Pennsylvania, Equality Texas, Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Network, Georgia Equality, Give a Damn Project, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Indiana Equality, Make it Better Project, MassEquality, Michigan Equality, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Trevor Project, the United Church of Christ, and Vermont Freedom to Marry. LGBT bloggers including Bil Browning, Joe Jervis, Jeremy Hooper,  and Zack Ford and sites including On Top Magazine, the Seattle Lesbian, AfterEllen and AfterElton have also participated.

Spirit Day was first developed by teenager Brittany McMillan and inspired the creation of several Facebook event pages, including "R.I.P. ;; In memory of the recent suicides due to gay abuse, wear purple" which now has over 1 million supporters. After being alerted to violent and hateful anti-gay comments on the page, GLAAD worked with Facebook to remove the comments and confirmed that Facebook will take new measures to respond more quickly to homophobic posts.

LGBT youth in need of immediate help should contact The Trevor Project 's 24/7 Lifeline at 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386) or The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).