Bernadette Peters, Cheyenne Jackson and More to Take Part in GLAAD Spirit Day

Viacom brands MTV, VH1, CMT, BET, Logo, TV Land, TeenNick and Paramount Pictures will join the hosts of Good Morning America, the cast of Days of Our Lives, Dianna Agron, Chaz Bono, Pauly D, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Fran Drescher, Paris Hilton, Jimmy Kimmel, Joel McHale, Reba McEntire, Sir Ian McKellen, Maria Menounos, the New York Stock Exchange, hosts of CNBC, Facebook and millions of Americans in 'going purple' for Spirit Day on October 19 in a stand against bullying and to show their support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth, GLAAD announced today. The National Basketball Association (NBA), NASCAR Diversity, Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) will also participate through social media.

For a full list of participants, anti-bullying resource kit for students and parents as well as Spirit Day digital apps visit http://glaad.org/spiritday

Viacom's brands will be participating on-air, online, through social media and employee engagement efforts. MTV, VH1, Logo, TV Land and TeenNick will turn on-air logos purple on Spirit Day; MTV, VH1 and Logo will turn online logos purple as well and support through social media, VH1.com, LogoTV.com and NewNowNext.com, which will be posting feature stories and never-before-seen "It Gets Better" clips. MTV will turn its 44 ½ high-definition screen in Times Square purple for the day. The cast of TeenNick's 'Degrassi' and 'Victorious' star Avan Jogia will be wearing purple and Viacom, BET, CMT and Paramount Pictures will also support the day through social media.

Comcast and NBCUniversal will participate including NBC owned stations, Telemundo network and owned stations. Hosts of "Access Hollywood," CNBC, "Chelsea Lately," and E! News, among others, will wear purple.

The 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign' will be turned purple and several hotels on the Las Vegas strip will light their marquees purple with an anti-bullying message, GLAAD previously announced with R&R Partners Foundation. In addition, the Duke Energy Tower in Charlotte, NC will join the New York Stock Exchange, Thomson Reuters' Times Square screen, the LAX Pylon Lights and JFK traffic tower in lighting up purple for Spirit Day on October 19.

Hosts of 'Good Morning America' will wear purple on the October 19 show. 'Watch What Happens Live' host Andy Cohen will also wear purple for Spirit Day on the October 18 program. Hosts of "Access Hollywood," CNBC, "Chelsea Lately," "E! News," "Extra," "The Talk," "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" and "The Wendy Williams Show" will also wear purple on the air for Spirit Day. Host of 'Extra,' Maria Menounos, will join previously announced celebrity participants including Dianna Agron, Perez Hilton, Avan Jogia, Shay Mitchell, Shaquille O'Neal, George Takei and Wendy Williams as a Spirit Day Ambassador.

American Apparel, the vertically integrated clothing manufacturer based in downtown Los Angeles, launched a Spirit Day store featuring the company's purple clothing items. Spirit Day supporters will receive a special 10% discount on the purple items by using the promo code 'SPIRIT' at check out. American Apparel will also donate 10% of all 'purple proceeds' to GLAAD.

Each year GLAAD coordinates hundreds of national and local organizations, schools, celebrities, media, sports leagues, corporations, parishes, faith groups and landmarks. GLAAD is also working with gay teen Katy Butler who is calling for President Obama and Governor Romney to wear purple on Friday. Her Change.org petition has garnered thousands of signatures: http://glaad.org/purple2012. Earlier this year, Katy launched a Change.org petition to call on the MPAA to change the rating of the documentary BULLY.

"By going purple for Spirit Day, millions of Americans are helping to send a clear message that no one should be bullied simply because of who they are," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick.

Additionally, celebrities including Louis Van Amstel, Bryan Batt, Chaz Bono, Brandy, Bailey Buntain, Keenan Cahill, Kristin Cavallari, Margaret Cho, Andy Cohen, the cast of Days of Our Lives, the cast of Degrassi, Fran Drescher, Carmen Electra, Ray Ford, Fun., Stephen Fry, Renee Graziano, Kathy Griffin, Paris Hilton, Perez Hilton, Cheyenne Jackson, Peter Marc Jacobson, Avan Jogia, Kaya Jones, Keahu Kahuaui, Jennifer Knapp, Kara Laricks, Judith Light, Mario Lopez, Marlee Matlin, Lucia Mendez, Dean McDermott, Joel McHale, Maria Menounous, Justin Mikita, Cesar Milan, D.W. Moffett, Rita Moreno, Shay Mitchell, Sonja Morgan, Mary Murphy, Matt Nordgren, Shaquille O'Neal, Bernadette Peters, Melissa Peterman, Pauly D, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Cierra Ramirez, Sara Rue, SallyAnn Salsano, Lindsey Shaw, Gail Simmons, Freddie Smith, George Takei, Lea Thompson, Stephen Wallem, Marissa Winokur, Zack Pearlman, Molly Tarlov, Jessica Lu, Ashley Rickards, JillIan Rose Reed, Desi Lydic, Greer Grammer, Joey Pollari, Bubba, Kenny Santucci, Paula Meronek, Jasmine Reynaud, LaToya Jackson, Derek Chavez, Evan Starkman, Brandon Nelson, C.J., JD Ordonez, Preston Charles, Robb Schreiber, Wendy Williams, Marissa Winokur and Bruce Vilanch will also participate by going purple on October 19. For a full list please visit: http://www.glaad.org/spiritday/entertainment

Celebrity participants and Spirit Day Ambassadors are also encouraging fans and supporters to donate to GLAAD, GLSEN and The Trevor Project by texting 'PURPLE' to 80888 to make a $5 contribution. AT&T is the exclusive underwriter of the Spirit Day Text Purple campaign.

In addition to the 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign, Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands Corporation, Treasure Island, The Tropicana Las Vegas and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will also turn their resort marquees purple along the Las Vegas Strip 11 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. and then again 10 p.m. – 10:15 p.m. The Fremont Street Experience will also go purple for Spirit Day at 10 p.m. and again at 11 p.m., lighting its famed Viva Vision canopy, which consists of more than 12 million LED lights and spans four city blocks. Organized by The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (The Center), a meet-up for teens and young adults will take place that evening at the Fremont Street Experience. Marquee Nightclub, located in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, will host a Spirit Day after-party with special celebrity host NHL star Sean Avery.

Other Las Vegas-area participants include Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA); Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN); Golden Rainbow; Hilton Garden Inn; Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce; Las Vegas Pride; Nevada State Senator David Parks; QVegas; and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

GLAAD and Toyota Financial Services last week announced the release of the "Go Purple for #SpiritDay powered by Toyota Financial Services" apps for iPhone and Android. The app provides users with anti-bullying resources, calls to action, and a tool that can turn photos purple and share to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The free app is now available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play. To download, visit: http://GLAAD.org/spiritday/app

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation's second largest school district with more than 640,000 students in over 900 schools, will participate by sharing information about Spirit Day with students on its website and through its social media channels.

Corporations including AMC Entertainment, American Airlines, American Apparel, AT&T, atelier-lb, Caesars Foundation, Carat, Citi, Comcast, CreagerCole Communications, Delta Air Lines, Draftfcb, Digitas, Duane Morris LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, Facebook, Hewlett-Packard Company, Hyatt, Johnnye's East Texas Soul, LBNY, Leo Burnett Business, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Marquee Las Vegas, MediaVest, MetLife, MSL New York, Mobli, NBCUniversal, Nielsen, Omnicom Group, PepsiCo, Publicis Groupe, Publicis Kaplan Thaler, PwC, Saatchi & Saatchi, Southern California Edison, StumbleUpon, Thomson Reuters, Toyota Financial Services, tumblr, Viacom, Warner Bros., Wells Fargo, Yahoo! and Zenith Optimedia will also participate in Spirit Day. Participating companies will distribute information to employees about wearing purple and/or turn their logo purple on October 19.

Local and national groups and organizations including All Out; The Alliance for GLBTQ Youth; American Federation of Teachers (AFT); Athlete Ally; Bienestar; bklyn boihood; Broadway Impact; The Brown Boi Project; Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization; the BULLY Project; Campus Pride; CenterLink; Circle of Voices; Courage Campaign; Empire State Pride Agenda; Equality California; Equality Florida; Equality Illinois; Equality Maryland; Equality Matters; Equality Michigan; the Equality Network; Equality North Carolina; Equality Ohio; Equality Texas; Equality Utah; Fair Wisconsin; FALGBT; Familia es Familia; Fierce; Forty to None Project; Forum for Equality; Freedom to Marry; FriendFactor; Forum for Equality; Garden State Equality; Georgia Equality; Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY); Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD); the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN); Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD); Give a Damn Campaign; GMHC; GSA Network; Hetrick-Martin Institute; Hispanic Black Gay Coalition (HBGC); Human Rights Campaign (HRC); Immigration Equality; Indiana Equality; It Gets Better Project; Latino Equality Alliance; Latino GLBT History; LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent; Log Cabin Republicans; the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC); Mass Equality; Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC); MOVILH; National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC); the National Bullying Prevention Center by PACER; the National Council of La Raza (NCLR); National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR); National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE); National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP); the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC); One Colorado; One Iowa; OutFront Minnesota; Out & Equal; OutServe; Palm Beach County Human Rights Council; Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); Point Foundation; promo; Progress Florida; Reaching Out MBA; Safe Schools of South Florida; SAGE; Save Dade; Sean's Last Wish; Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN); Straight But Not Narrow; Sun Serve; Sylvia Rivera Law Project; The Task Force; Tennessee Equality Project; Transgender Law Center; Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF); Trans People of Color Coalition (TPCC);Tennessee Equality Project; Trans Ohio; Trans People of Color Coalition; Trans Youth Support Network (TYSN); The Trevor Project; True Colors Fund; The Village Family Services; We Are Family; WikiQueer; and Youth Empowered to Act (YETA) will all participate by wearing purple on October 19, turning their social media channels purple, and encouraging members to participate.

In 2010, teenager Brittany McMillan called on her friends to wear purple as a way to memorialize those who lost their lives to bullying. With GLAAD's help, Spirit Day has since garnered widespread support from celebrities, TV news and entertainment programs, corporations, organizations, schools, local communities, and even national landmarks. Spirit Day coincides with GLSEN's Ally Week, as well as National Bullying Prevention Month.

"Showing support for your friends, family and teachers can make all the difference in the world to young LGBT people, whether they are going through a tough time or not," said 17-year-old McMillan. "This year, Spirit Day is going to be bigger and better than ever, and I'm so thrilled to be going purple alongside some of my favorite celebrities, as well as millions of others in a united stand against bullying."

For more information visit http://glaad.org/spiritday