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New Yorkers Join Spirit Day, Show Their Support

By Della Hasselle | October 20, 2010 3:08pm
In the aftermath of Tyler Clementi's death New Yorkers are donning purple for
In the aftermath of Tyler Clementi's death New Yorkers are donning purple for "Spirit Day."
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DNAinfo/Carla Zanoni

By Tiphanie Colon-Lamontanaro and Della Hasselle

DNAinfo Staff

MANHATTAN — A viral wave of support for gay teens washed over the Internet Wednesday and New Yorkers joined in the effort to remember Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, who took his own life.

New Yorkers were encouraged to wear purple in memory of Clementi across sites such as Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter  to let people know it's “not okay” to bully gay teens.

Many Facebook users changed their status message to read, "On October 20th, 2010, we will wear purple in honor of the 6 gay boys who committed suicide in recent weeks/months due to homophobic abuse in their homes and at their schools. Purple represents Spirit on the LGBTQ flag and that’s exactly what we’d like all of you to have with you: spirit."

Javier Soriano, a New York photographer, included photographs of of New Yorkers wearing purple in support on his Facebook page.

Many sites also included the message:

"Please know that times will get better and that you will meet people who will love you and respect you for who you are, no matter your sexuality. Please wear purple on October 20th. Tell your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and schools. RIP Tyler Clementi, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg, Raymond Chase and Billy Lucas. You are loved."

The "Spirit Day" movement was originally started by a teenager Brittany McMillan on her Tumblr site, but the message quickly spread, helped on by a slew of New York LGBT support centers.

“I'm wearing purple for Spirit Day to end anti-LGBT bullying - make your profile pic purple today,” the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of New York tweeted Wednesday.

Broadway stars were also joining the momvement, releasing the "It Gets Better" music video, made available to the public Tuesday.

Written by Jay Kuo and Blair Shepard, Broadway’s "It Gets Better" video donates all proceeds to the Trevor Project, a gay youth suicide prevention hotline.

The message got political Tuesday when New York Senator Hillary Clinton also joined the wave Tuesday by posting her own “It Gets Better” YouTube video.

"Here at the State Department, I am grateful every day for the work of our LGBT employees who are serving the United States as foreign service officers and civil servants here and around the world," Clinton said on the video. "It wasn’t long ago that these men and women would not have been able to serve openly, but today they can—because it has gotten better. And it will get better for you."