How did purple get chosen as the color for anti-bullying?

When Canadian teen Brittany McMillan launched Spirit Day in 2010, she was inspired by the purple stripe on the rainbow flag, which creator Gilbert Baker, said represented “spirit.”

On October 19, we’re expecting you all to do your best Grimace impression by donning purple and taking a stand against cruelty and abuse as part of Spirit Day 2012.

But why wait? You can pledge to participate right now over on GLAAD’s website. Past participant  have included Oprah, Tyra Banks, the Weather Channel’s meteorologists, the cast of Jersey Shore, and even some people who’ve never appeared on television—like the more than 1.6 million Facebook users who signed up for the event in 2011.

Queerty will be turning purple for Spirit Day, too—will you?

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