Celine Dion, Halsey, Jimmy Kimmel, Britney Spears, Wanda Sykes, Christina Aguilera, Olivia Newton-John, Fergie, Lily Tomlin, Wrabel, Luis Fonsi, Nico Tortorella, Tatiana Maslany, hosts of Entertainment Tonight, The View, and Access Hollywood among celebrities participating on Thursday, Oct. 19
NEW YORK, NY — GLAAD, the world's largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today announced participants in Spirit Day. Taking place on October 19, Spirit Day inspires millions around the world to wear purple or 'go purple' online in a unified stand against bullying and to show support for LGBTQ youth.
To support this effort, Kellogg Company launched a video featuring its beloved characters Tony the Tiger, Julius Pringles ( "Mr. P" ), Ernie Keebler, Toucan Sam, Snap, Crackle & Pop, and Cornelius ( "Corny" ) the Kellogg's Corn Flakes mascot. Each character plays a role in 'speaking out' against bullying in support of Spirit Day. Many of Kellogg's social media channels will also support Spirit Day, turning their handles purple for the day to stand up to bullying.
View the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB2mPafJnZw
GLAAD also announced initial celebrity participants for Spirit Day 2017. They include Celine Dion, Halsey, Jimmy Kimmel, Britney Spears, Whoopi Goldberg, Olivia Newton-John, Fergie, Christina Aguilera Lily Tomlin, Wanda Sykes, Minnie Driver, Wrabel, Luis Fonsi, Nico Tortorella, Tatiana Maslany, Malin Akerman, Cody Alan, Stephanie Beatriz, Mayim Bialik, Dan Bucatinski, Sarah Wayne Callies, Candis Cayne, Asia Kate Dillon, Tommy Dorfman, Lisa Edelstein, Cameron Esposito, Brad Goreski, Gigi Gorgeous, Steve Howey, Mario Lopez, Kyle MacLachlan, Monica, Maulik Pancholy, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Carrie Preston, Lily Rabe, Franchesca Ramsey, Michael Ray, Vincent Rodriguez III, Angelica Ross, Zeke Smith, Zeke Thomas, Russell Tovey, David Tutera, Cary Deuber, Dorit Kemsley, Dorinda Medley, Brandi Redmond, Kim Richards, Kyle Richards, Sophie Stanbury, David Alpay, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Brittany Ashley, India de Beaufort, Sara Benincasa, Matt Bernstein, Luna Blaise, Blossom Brown, Jasmine Savoy Brown, Karamo Brown, Sam Bruno, Ever Carradine, The Chew, Katie Cook, Mason Cook, Jackie Cruz, Torrey DeVitto, Gaby Dunn, Teala Dunn, Max Emerson, Alayna Fender, Jordan Fisher, Nicola Foti, Rafael de la Fuente, Broderick Greer, Pooch Hall, Jade Hassoune, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, Merrell Hollis, Blair Imani, Emma Kenney, Faulkner, Ryan Kinder, Nikki Leigh, Dylan Marron, Jeffrey Marsh, Dash Mihok, Kate Moennig, Toby Leonard Moore, Fiona Morris, Bethany Mota, Toks Olagundoye, Barrett Pall, Sydney Park, Shadi Petosky, Allison Raskin, Malcolm Ribot, Daniel Rice, Matt Rife, Louise Roe, Bryan Safi, Ryan Sallins, Nico Santos, Callum Scott, Ryan Serhant, Lili Simmons, Alicia Sixtos, Skylar Stecker, Danny Strong, Julia Goldani Telles, Jacob Tobia, JJ Totah, Alok Vaid-Menon, Jean Watts, Adam Eli Werner, the cast of A Very Sordid Wedding, and more. More names will be announced on Spirit Day.
Hosts of Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Extra, MTV's TRL, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The Chew, The View, Un Nuevo DÃa ( Telemundo ) and Despierta America ( Univision ) will also participate.
Networks and platforms including CBS, The CW, HBO, Hulu, Freeform, Logo, and MTV will be participating on social media. ,
Landmarks participating in American Eagle Outfitters Times Square, NASDAQ, NYSE, Thomson Reuters Times Square, Viacom's 1515 Broadway, Target Plaza South ( Minneapolis ), and the Wells Fargo Duke Energy Building ( Charlotte ).
Businesses participating include Wells Fargo, The Gap, and Delta Employee Equality Network ( DEEN ).
Faith partners include Dignity New York, Unitarian Universalist Association UN Office, The Naming Project, Reconciling Ministries Network ( RMN ), and MyOutSpirit.com .
Organizations slated to 'go purple' include The Ally Coalition, Athlete Ally, DoSomething, The BiCast, BiNet USA, Bisexual Resource Center, Dharma & Martia, Equality for HER, Equality Texas, Equality Utah, Fair Wisconsin, Femsplain, Geeks Out, Georgia Equality, GMHC, Hetrick Martin Institute, League of United Latin American Citizens, The LGBT Center NYC, Mpowerment Project, National Center for Transgender Equality, UnidosUS, One Corlorado, PFLAG National, PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center, Rock The Vote, LGBT Community Center of the Desert, LGBT Technology Partnership & Institute, Tennessee Equality Project, Resource Center, National Women's Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation, Kappa Xi Omega Sorority, San Diego LGBT Community Center, Safe Schools Action Network, Gender Spectrum, Trans Student Educational Resources, Amazin LÃŞThi Foundation, and Fair Wisconsin.
Schools and GSAs participating include Ithaca College Center for LGBT Education, Outreach and Services, Undergraduate Government of Boston College, GLBTQ+ Leadership Council ( GLC ), and College at Old Westbury State University of New York Pride.
Spirit Day is made possible by the generous support of its presenting partners Target, and Wells Fargo, as well official partners Johnson & Johnson, Liberty Mutual Insurance, NBA/WNBA, and Toyota Financial Services; supporting partners Barilla, Kellogg's, Kirkland & Ellis, and NFL.
Coinciding with National Bullying Prevention Month, Spirit Day began in 2010 after a high school student posted the idea to her Tumblr page following the suicide deaths of several LGBTQ and LGBTQ-perceived young people.
According to GLSEN's most recent National School Climate Survey, 57.6% of LGBTQ students felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 43.3% because of their gender expression. GLSEN also reported that 85.2% of LGBTQ students experienced verbal harassment ( e.g., called names or threatened ) at school based on a personal characteristic.
For more information on Spirit Day and how GLAAD accelerates acceptance, visithttp://glaad.org/spiritday .
About GLAAD
GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org or connect with GLAAD onFacebook and Twitter.
