New York—GLAAD announced that the iconic Empire State Building will go purple on Wednesday evening, Oct. 19, in honor of GLAAD's Spirit Day taking place on Thursday, Oct. 20. RuPaul's Drag Race fan favorite Jujubee and Presenting Sponsor of Spirit Day Sally Hansen will participate in a ceremonial lighting of the Empire State Building with GLAAD.
Aly & AJ, Ben Aldridge, Louis Van Amstel, Jonathan Bennett, Mayim Bialik, Sue Bird, Kent Boyd, Aria Brooks, Sterling K. Brown, Kristin Cavallari, Margaret Cho, CNBC, Jason Collins, Wilson Cruz, Shannon Dang, Kelsi Davies, Heather Dubrow, Daniel Durant, Mikalah Gordon, Belinda Gosbee, Mollee Gray, Faithe Herman, David Hernandez, Ty Herndon, Jeka, Jane, Ken Jeong, Carson Kressley, Cheryl Ladd, Lisa Linke, Don Manicini, Mayan Lopez, Alexis Lynn, Matty Maggiacomo, Idina Menzel, Mothé, Maren Morris, Chris Mosier, Netta, Joy Oladokun, Jim Parsons, DJ "Shangela" Pierce, Olivia Ponton, Kyla Pratt, Adam Rippon, Jai Rodriguez, Jake Wesley Rogers, Lily Rose, Amy Schneider, Wanda Sykes, Brooklynne Webb Gregory Zarian, alongside faith leaders Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, Brandan Robertson, Father James Martin, and Bishops Megan Rohrer, Brenda Bos, among others, will also participate in the world's largest and most visible LGBTQ anti-bullying campaign. The casts of The Cleaning Lady, The L Word: Generation Q, Rupaul's Drag Race, Freeform's Good Trouble, The Come Up, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Single Drunk Female, HBO's We're Here join on-air talent across major TV and cable networks and shows as participants for GLAAD's Spirit Day this year including ABC, CBS, PBS, MSNBC, NBC News' TODAY, the 3rd Hour of TODAY and TODAY with Hoda & Jenna.
This year, presenting sponsors Kellogg's, Sally Hansen, Target, and Visible, along with community
sponsors, Amazon Corporate Security, Kirkland & Ellis, L'Oreal/ Viktor & Rolf, NBA, WNBA, NFL, Skittles and Taimi will all participate in the anti-bullying campaign on Thursday, Oct. 20.
Ketel One, M&M's and WWE have also pledged their support as sponsors of GLAAD's Spirit Day Benefit Concert, held on Wednesday, October 19th in Los Angeles.
On Spirit Day, millions of people around the world will wear purple or go purple online in a unified stand against bullying and to show support for LGBTQ youth. Purple symbolizes 'spirit' on the rainbow flag. Each year, Spirit Day draws the participation of celebrities, corporations, media outlets, sports leagues, schools, faith institutions, national landmarks, and individuals. For more information visitglaad.org/spiritday and follow #SpiritDay.
Several studios, networks, shows, streaming services, landmarks, sports leagues, and organizations are confirmed to take part in the world's largest and most visible LGBTQ anti-bullying campaign:
● NBCUniversal News Group: NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, and NBC News NOW — will be going purple on Spirit Day. CNBC's logo will also go purple on-air and online in honor of the anti-bullying campaign. Shows across Peacock, Comcast NBCUniversal and Universal Studio Group will also participate alongside NBC News' TODAY, the 3rd Hour of TODAY and TODAY with Hoda & Jenna.
● The Walt Disney Company: ABC, ABC Owned Television Stations, Disney Channel, Disney Television Studios, Hulu, National Geographic, and Onyx Collective will join cast members from Freeform's Good Trouble, Single Drunk Female and The Come Up to take part in Spirit Day. Programs and platforms across ABC News will feature segments raising awareness about LGBTQ youth and taking a stand against bullying.
● Paramount: Casts from HBO's We're Here, RuPaul's Drag Race and shows across ViacomCBS will also participate.
● For a sixth consecutive year, iHeartMedia will participate in Spirit Day by airing PSAs across its radio stations nationwide
● Spanish-language networks, shows, and streaming services set to participate in Spirit Day include The Q Agenda, Despierta América, Hoy Día, Telemundo, TelevisaUnivision, Pantaya.
● Major sports leagues including the NFL, a community sponsor of Spirit Day this year, will take part in the anti-bullying campaign alongside the NBA, WNBA, MLB and Athlete Ally.
● Other landmarks joining the Empire State Building include the Spheres at Amazon's Seattle campus, Amazon's HQ2 in Arlington, The Stonewall National Monument Visitor's Center, ViacomCBS and Times Square including the NASDAQ, M&M's, Skittles and American Eagle billboards are set to go purple for Spirit Day with Mars buildings in Newark, New Jersey and Chicago's Mars Wrigley Building.
● On Broadway, Jujamcyn Theaters will participate in Spirit Day along with the companies of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Into the Woods and 1776.
● LGBTQ advocacy groups GLSEN, The Trevor Project and +Life will take part in Spirit Day along with GSA clubs across the country.
● Faith organizations such as the United Church of Christ, The Naming Project, More Light Presbyterians, Fortunate Families, Reconciling Ministries Network and Affirming Youth Ministries will take part in Spirit Day.
● International including Chinamerica Radio, Okaeri (Japan), GagaOOLala (Taiwan), Mermaids (UK), Gendered Intelligence (UK) will go purple for Spirit Day.
GLAAD previously announced the kick off of 2022 Spirit Day with Maren Morris launching a new shirt where 100% of the proceeds will go to GLAAD's work to support LGBTQ youth and sends a powerful message. The shirt reads "You Have A Seat at This Table." Purchase Maren Morris's Purple #SpiritDay Shirt HERE
Morris is also partnering with digital fundraising platform Fandiem and with Bandsintown on a special sweepstakes supporting GLAAD to give her fans a chance to be her guest in Nashville for the final show of her "Humble Quest" tour, including a flyaway for the winner and a guest, 2 VIP tickets, an exclusive virtual meet-up with the singer, and more specially chosen experiences. Fans can Donate To Win at fandiem.com/marenmorris
Previous Spirit Day participants include the Obama White House, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Empire State Building, Oprah Winfrey, Sec. Hillary Clinton, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Kerry Washington, Halle Berry, Laverne Cox, Celine Dion, Shaquille O'Neal, Sam Smith, Jimmy Kimmel, Troye Sivan, Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, The View, The Talk, The Tonight Show, the NBA and WNBA, all Major League Baseball teams, NASCAR, WWE, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, the Las Vegas Strip, and many more.
About #SpiritDay
GLAAD organizes hundreds of celebrities, media outlets, brands, landmarks, sports leagues, tech leaders, influencers, faith groups, school districts, organizations, colleges and universities in what has become the most visible anti-LGBTQ bullying campaign in the world. Purple symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag.
The annual tradition was started in 2010 by high school student Brittany McMillan, in memory of the LGBTQ youth who lost their lives to suicide. McMillian encouraged her friends to wear purple on a day in October — a day that came to be known as Spirit Day.
Today, LGBTQ youth, and especially our trans and nonbinary youth, are experiencing a level of scrutiny in schools we have never seen, leading to an environment rife with stressors beyond the peer-to-peer bullying of the past. From book bans to sports teams bans, to bathroom restrictions and teachers barred from using preferred pronouns, the means by which a student can express themselves and see others like them are increasingly being challenged.
GLAAD's 2022 Social Media Safety Index found severe harassment for LGBTQ users when compared to 2021. This anti-LGBTQ rhetoric then translates to real-life harm and has been cited as drivers of many of the nearly 250 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in states around the country this year alone, many of which target our LGBTQ youth.
Take the Spirit Day pledge to show LGBTQ youth you've got their backs at glaad.org/spiritday.
For more information on Spirit Day, visit glaad.org/spiritday and follow @GLAAD on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to keep up to date with #SpiritDay news.
