"The butterflies you feel should come from love, not fear.”
Today, as millions of individuals stand in solidarity with LGBT youth for the fifth annual Spirit Day, LGBT youth themselves, along with peer allies, are painting social media purple. Some use Twitter to ask celebrities who haven’t gone purple to participate, others call on their communities and social networks to take a stand, and still others use the hashtag #SpiritDay as a way to connect with people they do not know and discuss bullying.
The photojournalism project We Are the Youth, which chronicles the individual stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth in the United States through portraits and “as told to” interviews in the participants’ own voice, has participated as well. If you identify as an LGBT youth, you can share your story with the project’s blog.
From the United States to the United Kingdom, from Canada to South Africa, check out some of the Tweets and photos of youth celebrating Spirit Day below, and join the conversation with @GLAAD at #SpiritDay on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!
Spirit Day, which takes place today, October 16, inspires millions to wear purple or "go purple" online in a united stand against bullying and to show their support for LGBT youth. Each year, Spirit Day draws the participation of celebrities, corporations, media outlets, sports leagues, schools, faith institutions, national landmarks, and individuals. Spirit Day is made possible by the generous support of its national partners PepsiCo and Wells Fargo, as well as official partners Comcast-NBCUniversal and Google, and supporting partner American Eagle Outfitters.
You can go purple now by putting on purple, posting about #spiritday, and sharing your favorite #spiritday posts on social media.
Check out glaad.org/spiritday for more about how to stand against anti-LGBT bullying and follow @GLAAD on Twitter to keep up to date with #spiritday news!