WHAT IS SPIRIT DAY? 

Spirit Day is a means of speaking out against LGBTQ bullying and standing with LGBTQ youth, who disproportionately face bullying and harassment because of their identities. Pledging to “go purple” on Spirit Day is a way for everyone — forward-thinking companies, global leaders, respected celebrities, neighbors, parents, classmates, and friends — to visibly show solidarity with LGBTQ youth and to take part in the largest, most visible anti-bullying campaign in the world. GLAAD makes it easy to celebrate by helping you learn the facts, you can download GLAAD’s resources to help you engage your friends, classmates, colleagues, local media, and public officials in Spirit Day.

????️‍???? #SpiritDay2019: "Spirit Day is a means of speaking out against #LGBTQ bullying and standing with LGBTQ youth, who disproportionately face bullying and harassment because of their identities." @glaad
????LGBT youth more prone to bullying: https://t.co/3sTW4vhhJS pic.twitter.com/W5LRTjoPOA

— MDEdge Psychiatry (@MDEdgePsych) October 17, 2019

The Advocate today published an interview with Jayson Bijak, a recent graduate from the University of Houston, who studied elementary and special education. Bijak, who volunteered at his campus’s LGBTQ+ Resource Center and worked as a student teacher, told us how we all can make the most of this feel-good day. “With all the ugliness in the world, Spirit Day — today, October 17 — is a way to spread a message of compassion, specifically for LGBTQ youth. Queer students face unprecedented bullying and harassment in schools (over 70 percent of out youth say they’ve experienced harassment or assault), and wearing purple is a sign to others that kindess is a priority, and that people should be treated with dignity and respect.”

The Advocate: What does Spirit Day mean for you?
Bijak: Spirit Day, for me, is an opportunity to educate students and school faculty on the issues faced by their LGBTQ peers/students and how to best show acceptance and kindness to those students. It’s a day to be visible for LGBTQ youth, to show them that they have people fighting for them.

Read the full interview here.

Below our favorite #SpiritDay posts on social media.

It’s #SpiritDaywhich means today (and everyday) is a day to take a stance against bullying within the LGBTQ+ community because of how one chooses to identify / express themselves in their life. We all know that LGBTQ+ people are humans, but still we face discrimination on a daily basis on who we choose to love. ???? So please remember that LGBTQ+ people are people too, we’re not just objects for your sexual pleasure. We’re humans with feelings and have the ability to love just has heterosexual couples.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3uzWqFhQJD/

Teaching my kiddos to be kind to EVERYONE! #BullyingPreventionMonth #spiritday2019 #imwearingpurple pic.twitter.com/bUVWB4xuVF

— Laura Hohlbaugh (@LauraBoulware) October 17, 2019

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3u6JDBAOlZ/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3vNEskjRx7/

So this was a challenge to take anyway sending love to all the lgbtq youth this #spiritday#spiritday2019 #dogsofinstagram#puppy #labmix

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3vNBazAf9l/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3u7UlyhHlz/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3vCKzjB9sg/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3vJmVHp4jj/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3vJy21JnFl/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3u_3DvBmrm/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3u7wniBsyQ/

How did you spend #SpiritDay2019?