NEW YORK, – MTV talent including Ke$ha, Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi and Jenni ‘JWOWW’ Farley from ‘Snooki and JWOWW,’ and Nev Schulman and Max Joseph from Catfish: The TV Show; trans athlete and advocate Kye Allums; openly gay basketball player Jason Collins; the cast of Teen Nick’s ‘Degrassi’; celebrity radio host Elvis Duran; WNBA player Brittney Griner; 12 year-old transgender advocate and star of I am Jazz: A family in transition Jazz; Archie Comics’ Kevin Keller; Extra Host Maria Menounos; country music artist Kacey Musgraves, and Spanish-language talk show host Cristina Saralegui will join GLAAD, hundreds of corporations, national landmarks, schools, local communities and millions of Americans in wearing purple and ‘going purple’ online for Spirit Day Oct. 17, in a stand against bullying and to show their support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. Celebrity participants announced will serve as Spirit Day Ambassadors for the 2013 campaign, helping to bring Spirit Day and positive messages of support to LGBT youth everywhere.
GLAAD has also announced the Spirit Day pledge sweepstakes. Supporters who pledge to wear purple on Spirit Day in a stand against bullying will be automatically entered to win a trip for two to Las Vegas, including first-class airfare courtesy Delta Air Lines, a two-night stay at Caesars Palace Las Vegas courtesy of Caesars Entertainment, two tickets to Shania:Still the One at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, and a post-show meet-and-greet with international superstar and the world’s best-selling female country artist of all time, Shania Twain. Additionally, Caesars Palace will be turning its iconic Las Vegas fountains purple for Spirit Day in a united stand against bullying. To take the Spirit Day pledge, visit http://glaad.org/spiritday
“As our country moves closer to full legal equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, LGBT youth continue to face staggering rates of bullying at school,” said GLAAD spokesperson Wilson Cruz. “On Oct. 17, we urge you to join us in helping to send a powerful message of support to LGBT youth everywhere.”
For the third year in a row, MTV and mtvU will turn purple on-air and online to celebrate Spirit Day, as will MTV’s Times Square Screens. MTV’s ACT Blog, which will also “go purple,” will feature special coverage of the day, and the first 500 people who share a purple-themed photo with MTV’s A Thin Line campaign on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #SpiritDay will receive a free A Thin Line bracelet. The A Thin Line campaign, which empowers young people to help stop the spread of digital abuse, has already inspired more than 1.5 million young people to take action.
Participating national landmarks include Las Vegas’ Fremont Street Experience, the LAX pylon lights, the New York Stock Exchange, and Times Square.
Corporations including American Eagle Outfitters, Brown-Forman Corporation, Caesars Foundation, Delta Air Lines, esurance, Facebook, Ketel One Vodka, MTV, NASDAQ, Thomson Reuters, Toyota Financial Services, Wells Fargo, Westfield Group, and ZipCar will also participate in Spirit Day. Participating companies will distribute information to employees about wearing purple and/or turn their logo purple Oct. 17.
For a complete list of celebrity participants, media outlets, TV networks, organizations and corporations visit http://glaad.org/spiritday. Additional participants to be announced.
Millions wear purple on Spirit Day as a sign of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth and to speak out against bullying. Spirit Day was started in 2010 as a response to the young people who had taken their own lives. With GLAAD’s help, Spirit Day has since garnered widespread support from celebrities, TV news and entertainment programs, corporations, organizations, schools, local communities, and even national landmarks. Spirit Day coincides with GLSEN’s Ally Week, as well as National Bullying Prevention Month.
According to GLSEN’s 2011 National School Climate Survey, 63.5% of LGBT students reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, 43.9% because of their gender expression. GLSEN also reported that 81.9% of LGBT students report being verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation, and 27.1% because of their gender expression.
Previous Spirit Day participants include The White House, Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Shaquille O’Neal, The View, The Talk, The Tonight Show, Extra, the NBA, the NFL, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, the Las Vegas Strip, and more. For more information, visit http://glaad.org/spiritday
