Today President Barack Obama’s White House went purple to show support for Spirit Day, a day for honoring lesbian, gay, and transgender (LGBT) youth and to speak out against bullying. The official White House Twitter and Facebook accounts went purple, and the White House posted a blog entry recognizing the importance of Spirit Day.
If you visit Facebook today, or Twitter, or Tumblr, there’s a good chance you’ll be seeing purple. October 20th is Spirit Day — a celebration begun one year ago by a teenager named Brittany McMillan to honor the memory of young people who have taken their lives after being bullied.
It has become a day when people all over the world wear purple to show support for LGBT people and speak out against the bullying of LGBT teens.
In 2010, millions participated.
This year, the White House is going purple on Facebook, as well. You can also join the celebration by making your social networking icon purple, or just adding a statetment of support.
And October 20th is also a day to remember that it does get better.
The blog entry also included the It Gets Better videos from President Obama, Vice President Biden, and from the White House staff.
Last year, Secretary of State Clinton donned purple in honor of Spirit Day. No word yet on this year, but we do have video of Clinton today in a teal-ish suit…
And in case you’re eagle-eyeing the White House Twitter account, no, they’re not following me on Twitter… Their loss! (Of course, you can!)
And there’s still time to join Spirit Day. Head over to our friends at GLAAD to learn how to go purple!