Openly gay stars Lance Bass, Wilson
Cruz and Ricky Martin were among the celebrities participating in
Wednesday's Spirit Day.
People were urged to wear purple and
turn their Twitter and Facebook profiles purple to remember gay teens
who have been bullied to death.
The event had a big splash on the small
screen, with hosts of CNBC, E! News, The Ellen DeGeneres Show,
The Joy Behar Show, MSNBC, The Talk, The Today Show
and The View all participating by wearing purple on the air.
“By wearing purple online and offline
today, millions of Americans are sending an important message to let
gay and lesbian youth know that they are supported for being exactly
who they are,” Jarrett Barrios, president of GLAAD, said in a
statement.
Openly gay stars also showed their
support, including singer Clay Aiken, former 'NSYNC star Lance Bass,
actor Wilson Cruz, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, pop star Ricky
Martin, Real L Word creator Ilene Chaiken and country music
star Chely Wright.
Fort Worth councilman Joel Burns joined
Ellen DeGeneres in wearing purple during an appearance on her talk
show. A
video of Burns' emotional speech to his fellow lawmakers on gay teens
committing suicide has gone viral.
Jill Zarin, star of Bravo's Real
Housewives of New York City, said she participated because “No
child should be the victim of bullying, and as parents, we need to
teach our children that everyone deserves to be accepted for who they
are.”