UPDATE: By noonET, many MLB teams had not done this. Those that had not included the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates. In addition, the NFL front office had not either.
Thursday, Oct. 19, is Spirit Day, and GLAAD has a number of sports organizations lined up to support the campaign again.
For those who don’t know, Spirit Day is an annual campaign designed to show solidarity against bullying by wearing purple. It was started in 2010 by Brittany McMillan, a Canadian teenager who wanted to say something about a sudden surge in publicly reported bullying-related suicides. GLAAD has been pushing the campaign for several years.
Major League Baseball has recruited all 30 of its teams to join the cause this year, turning their social media presences purple for the day.
“We encourage supportive and accepting environments among our young fans, in the workplace, in our clubhouses, on the field and in the stands,” said Billy Bean, vice-president, Major League Baseball. “Spirit Day is a wonderful opportunity for MLB to share our values with our stakeholders, fans and anyone who loves baseball."
The NBA and WNBA are listed as official partners on Spirit Day, while the NFL is listed as a supporting partner. Major League Soccer and the NHL are both absent from GLAAD’s list of partners for the day.
Outsports has changed its social-media logos to purple again this year. You can too with this easy-to-use system created by GLAAD.
