Ricky Martin, Karen Olivo to Take Part in GLAAD Spirit Day Today

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) will join millions of lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and allies by participating in Spirit Day and wearing purple on October 20, 2011. Wearing purple on this day symbolizes support for LGBT people and against bullying of LGBT teens. For more information, visit: www.glaad.org/spiritday.

GLAAD is working with organizations including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the PACER Center, GLSEN, GSA Network, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), PFLAG and The Trevor Project as part of National Bullying Prevention Month to inspire Americans to wear purple on Spirit Day.

Celebrities including stars of the WWE, Chaz Bono, Mia Farrow, Lukas Haas (Inception), Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Julianne Moore, Sara Ramirez, and cast members of TeenNick's Degrassi will be wearing purple. MTV participants include Sammi Giancola and Vinny Guadagnino (Jersey Shore), Farrah Abraham, Tyler Baltierra, Maci Bookout and Catelynn Lowell (Teen Mom) as well as JillIan Rose Reed, Nikki Deloach, Matthew Fahey, Greer Grammer, Jessica Lu, Desi Lydic, and Beau Mirchoff (Awkward.). CW stars Shenae Grimes (90210), Gale Harold (The Secret Circle), Isis King (America's Next Top Model) will participate. NBC participants include Christopher McDonald and Karen Olivo (Harry's Law), Bob Harper (Biggest Loser), and Zoe Lister-Jones (Whitney). Additional celebrities include: basketball player John Amaechi, Bon and Whit (Big Rich Texas), Kate del Castillo of Telemundo's La Reina del Sur, Kaya Jones, Ross Matthews and Darryl Stephens (Noah's Arc). Previously announced names below.

Wendy Williams, Conan O'Brien, and hosts of The View, Access Hollywood Live will join CNBC's Jim Cramer and Simon Hobbs, Dr. Drew of CNN, E!'s Marc Malkin, and Thomas Roberts of MSNBC by wearing purple on-air. The Sundance Channel has announced that its on-air logo will be purple, and Seventeen magazine announced that the magazine will turn its Twitter avatar purple for the day.

MTV will be turning its on-air logo purple along with the network's Facebook, Twitter, MTV.com and MTV Act logos. Online and on-air logos for MTV2, mtvU, MTV Hits, MTV Jams and RateMyProfessors.com will also turn purple. MTV 44 and ½, the jumbotron in Times Square, will also light purple for Spirit Day.

The LAX Gateway lights at Los Angeles International Airport will also be lit purple.

Previously announced companies that will participate include AMC Entertainment, American Airlines, AT&T, B|W|R Public Relations, Comcast, Delta, Draftfcb, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Hewlett-Packard, McGraw-Hill, NBCUniversal, Nielsen, PepsiCo, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Verizon, Viacom and Yahoo!. Participating companies will be distributing information to employees about wearing purple; some have also pledged to turn logos purple for the day. For more information on specific plans, visit: www.glaad.org/spiritday/corporate.

Yahoo! will be holding photo shoots in various offices around the country to celebrate Spirit Day. Yahoo! also posted about Spirit Day on the OMG! Blog and the Yahoo! Pride Facebook fan page and sent an employee call-to-action to 'go purple' on Facebook and Twitter.

In addition to wearing purple on October 20, supporters will be changing their Facebook and Twitter photos purple today through October 20 by using free applications to turn profile photos purple at www.glaad.org/spiritday. GLAAD partnered with Mobli to create a Spirit Day channel for Mobli apps on Android, Blackberry and iPhone products. Mobli, where users can share moments and see the world through other people's eyes, is a real-time, visual social media platform, made up of subject-based channels such as people, places and topics (www.mobli.com/spiritday).

Previously announced celebrity participants include: the casts of FOX's I Hate My Teenage Daughter and Sundance Channel's Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, Tamra Barney (Bravo, Real Housewives of Orange County), Mehcad Brooks (USA, Necessary Roughness), Laura Bruce (WE, Downsized), Margaret Cho, Andy Cohen (Bravo), Wilson Cruz, Drew Ginsburg (Bravo, Most Eligible Dallas), Josh Kilmer-Purcell & Brent Ridge (Fabulous Beekman Boys), Carson Kressley (ABC, Dancing With The Stars), Padma Lakshmi (Bravo, Top Chef), Kristi Lauren (I Hate My Teenage Daughter), Vanessa Marano (ABC Family, Switched at Birth), Shay Mitchell (ABC Family, Pretty Little Liars), Sonja Morgan (Real Housewives of New York), Mary Murphy (So You Think You Can Dance), David Nadelberg (Sundance Channel, The Mortified Sessions), Matt Nordgren (Bravo, Most Eligible Dallas), Martha Plimpton (FOX, Raising Hope), Rosie Pope (Bravo, Pregnant in Heels), Jamie Pressly (FOX, I Hate My Teenage Daughter), Jai Rodriguez, Garo Sparo (Sundance Channel, Unleashed by Garo), Steve-O, TJ Thyne (Bones), Diann Valentine (WE, I Do Over), Kathy Wakile (Bravo, Real Housewives of New Jersey), and Joe Zee (Sundance Channel, All on the Line with Joe Zee). Participating celebrities will wear purple or change Twitter and Facebook photos purple for the day. Participants in 2010 included Cyndi Lauper, Ricky Martin, Khloe Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest, Perez Hilton, Kristin Chenoweth, the Dixie Chicks, cast members from of Glee, and Joan Rivers, among dozens of others.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present, and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances equality. For more information, visit www.glaad.org.