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firefly124I've seen so much both positive and negative around the Spirit Day event planned for next Wednesday, some of which I find confusing. Here's my understanding of it.
Someone (still not clear who, really) decided that it would be a good idea to pick a day and a method of both showing remembrance for gender and sexual minority youth who have died by suicide at least partly related to anti-LGBTQIA bullying and showing support for at-risk youth. They picked a day, smack in the middle of Straight Ally Week and picked the notion of wearing purple, a color that represents "spirit" on the rainbow flag. This idea went viral, and at least from this corner of the internet, it looks like lots of people plan to participate.
This isn't all that different than the Day of Silence in the spring, in which people take a one-day vow of silence (or, if their job or other life situation makes that impossible, wear something saying they are a "vocal supporter") as a means of acknowleging that people who are gender and/or sexual minorities are often silenced in society.
One's visual, the other's auditory, but they're both ways of simply raising awareness and showing support. Neither claims to be the end-all of advancing the cause of equal rights. Spirit Day definitely isn't about promoting or glorifying suicide, and I can't even figure out where anyone got that idea.
Some have chosen to take the idea a step further. The Gender and Sexual Minorities League at my college has decided to a) make purple ribbons available for people who either hadn't heard about Spirit Day until the last minute or just don't have anything purple to wear and b) take donations (either in exchange for the ribbons or not) for The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention hotline and resource for LGBTQIA youth. I'm sure we're not remotely the only group who's decided to do something like that.
At least a couple of people have suggested these aspects should be separated, because Spirit Day is more about visibility, and while the group ultimately decided to go with adding the fundraising component, I can't say the argument to keep them separate is wrong. Visible support matters, and maybe it would be stronger if left to stand alone. Also, it would suck if we discouraged anyone from participating because they felt they "couldn't afford" a ribbon.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. If you want to participate in Spirit Day as a show of support for at-risk LGBTQIA youth and in memory of those who have died by suicide by wearing purple on October 20, I think that's a good thing. If you want to support a suicide-prevention or anti-bullying program, I think that's also a good thing. If you want to support a pro-equality organization, I think that's a good thing too. I don't think it's necessary to pick only one of these things or necessary to combine them. It's all good.
Someone (still not clear who, really) decided that it would be a good idea to pick a day and a method of both showing remembrance for gender and sexual minority youth who have died by suicide at least partly related to anti-LGBTQIA bullying and showing support for at-risk youth. They picked a day, smack in the middle of Straight Ally Week and picked the notion of wearing purple, a color that represents "spirit" on the rainbow flag. This idea went viral, and at least from this corner of the internet, it looks like lots of people plan to participate.
This isn't all that different than the Day of Silence in the spring, in which people take a one-day vow of silence (or, if their job or other life situation makes that impossible, wear something saying they are a "vocal supporter") as a means of acknowleging that people who are gender and/or sexual minorities are often silenced in society.
One's visual, the other's auditory, but they're both ways of simply raising awareness and showing support. Neither claims to be the end-all of advancing the cause of equal rights. Spirit Day definitely isn't about promoting or glorifying suicide, and I can't even figure out where anyone got that idea.
Some have chosen to take the idea a step further. The Gender and Sexual Minorities League at my college has decided to a) make purple ribbons available for people who either hadn't heard about Spirit Day until the last minute or just don't have anything purple to wear and b) take donations (either in exchange for the ribbons or not) for The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention hotline and resource for LGBTQIA youth. I'm sure we're not remotely the only group who's decided to do something like that.
At least a couple of people have suggested these aspects should be separated, because Spirit Day is more about visibility, and while the group ultimately decided to go with adding the fundraising component, I can't say the argument to keep them separate is wrong. Visible support matters, and maybe it would be stronger if left to stand alone. Also, it would suck if we discouraged anyone from participating because they felt they "couldn't afford" a ribbon.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. If you want to participate in Spirit Day as a show of support for at-risk LGBTQIA youth and in memory of those who have died by suicide by wearing purple on October 20, I think that's a good thing. If you want to support a suicide-prevention or anti-bullying program, I think that's also a good thing. If you want to support a pro-equality organization, I think that's a good thing too. I don't think it's necessary to pick only one of these things or necessary to combine them. It's all good.
