Former Vice President Joe Biden, South
Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and California Senator Kamala
Harris were among the Democratic presidential candidates celebrating
GLAAD's Spirit Day, which supports efforts to combat the bullying of
LGBT youth.
Thursday is GLAAD's 10th
annual Spirit Day. Supporters are encouraged to wear purple.
In brief videos, each candidate sent
messages of solidarity to LGBT youth.
“You're incredible,” Biden
said. “You're as good and better than anybody else. And don't
let people try to tell you you're not. You have a capacity to do
anything and everything. And I promise you, the overwhelming majority
of people, sometimes even your mom and dads don't understand. There's
a lot, a lot that needs to be done.”
“Do not ever silently suffer and know
that you are deserving of respect and dignity and safety and we will
always fight for that,” Harris
said.
Buttigieg, the nation's first openly
gay and married presidential candidate, wanted LGBT youth to know it
gets better.
“It's tough to be a student, to be a
young person, even if it doesn't come with the added challenge of
being LGBTQ. You need to know that you're not alone,” Buttigieg
said.
Buttigieg added that in high school he
didn't know one single out person.
Other candidates who recorded Spirit
Day videos included Senators Amy
Klobuchar and Cory
Booker.