How you can support teens on October 20
By Lisa Finkelstein, Director of the LGBT Alliance
Last fall, a young person named Brittany McMillan wanted to do something about the LGBT teens who were taking their own lives. So she put a call out via a social network for people to wear purple on October 20th in support of LGBT teens and called it Spirit Day. She thought that only a few hundred at most would wear purple. She never imagined that thousands upon thousands of people across the nation would respond to her social media request by wearing purple.
On October 20, 2010 Brittany's idea officially became a viral marketing success. The cast of the very popular TV show Glee dressed up in purple as well as a few of the hosts on the day-time talk show, The View. Celebrities from Anderson Cooper to Dr. Phil also got in the purple spirit of spirit day. It was inspiring to see a young person have so much impact. This year, Brittany is asking the world again to dress in purple on October 20. She hopes that the LGBT teens who walk into their classrooms on this day will see their teachers and classmates wearing purple. She simply wants to make sure that these teens receive a feeling of hope in a place that so often can be filled with bullying.
Again, this year I'm joining Brittany on spirit day by wearing purple. It is an easy way to not only bring hope to young people but provide a visual reminder of the advocates that are on their side. It is easy to wear purple on October 20. Find a purple scarf, pin, t-shirt or kippah to show LGBT teens who their allies are in this community. To help remind you, you can pledge to go purple on facebook and then put a call out to your synagogue, school, organization or company to ask the leaders to send out a email asking everyone to observe Spirit Day as well.
Do me a favor? Email me at work or tag me on facebook with pictures of you or your friends dressed in purple. I will continue to collect these photos to create a poster of how our local San Francisco Bay Area Jewish community dresses up to support LGBT causes. Together, we can show LGBT teens that they are supported by everyone in this community.
