Actress and transgender rights advocate
Laverne Cox helped celebrate Spirit Day by lighting New York City's
iconic Empire State building purple.
The 5th annual Spirit Day
supports efforts to combat the bullying of LGBT teens. Supporters
are encouraged to wear purple.
At a lighting ceremony, Cox, 30, who is
best know for playing Sophia Burset on the Netflix drama-comedy
Orange is the New Black, said that the issue of bulling was
“deeply personal” to her.
“I spent much of my youth being
bullied, being called names, being chased home from school
practically every day by groups of kids who wanted to beat me up,”
Cox said. “And far too many LGBTQ youth are enduring the same
thing across this country and it is unacceptable.”
“I want LGBTQ youth all over this
country to know that they are beautiful, that they are divinely made
and that their lives matter.”
Other landmarks which have taken a
purple hue in the past to support Spirit Day include Times Square,
JFK and LAX airports, the New York Stock Exchange and the Welcome to
Las Vegas sign.