Purple Pride.

Today is the first annual Spirit Day. On this day, all are asked to honor the gay youth who have committed suicide in the recent months by wearing the color purple. I didn't know this day existed until I was at work*. 
*where I got to listen to employees in their late-twenties bitch about other people within the workplace as well as the e-mails and phonecalls they receive from parents and students about financial issues. All the while getting stamp pad ink all over my fucking hands from stamping cardboard diploma mailers for three straight hours.


More info on today here: http://sdgln.com/causes/2010/10/20/purple-every-day


When I heard that people were urged to wear purple today, I felt bad because I am currently in tan, off-white garb with jeans and brown boots. Do purple silly bands count? Then I remembered that I did in fact wear purple this morning at practice. My purple Perth hoodie I bought at Between the Flags in Oz.


I do hope that this day will continue to symbolize the importance of respect and tolerance of others. But mostly respect and acceptance. When I hear the word "tolerance," which I heard a woman at work refer to about today, I feel as if it describes an action people feel they have to do rather than want to do to begin with. When I hear the word "tolerance", I picture an obnoxious child one is forced to be nice to while his or her parents are out of the house. I think of words like "fake" and "pretend", and phrases like "deal with," and "...something I have to get used to" when I think of tolerance.


Those who felt that they no longer had anything to live for - because dying seemed a lot easier than dealing with the bullshit other people put them through - chose a different route because they weren't accepted, let alone tolerated by their culprits. Rather, they were ridiculed, harrassed, bullied, humiliated and frowned upon before enough was enough. It's ashame how it takes death for people to recognize the discrimination that still exists in the world today.


But there's still hoping.


We have Canadian teen Brittany McMillan to thank for "Spirit Day." She thought of the idea in response to the recent suicides of young gay individuals. Her idea of wearing purple flourished through the Internet, mainly social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Even blogs picked up her idea (too bad I caught on too little too late) and shared it with followers. McMillan said the following quote on her Tumblr account about today:


"On October 20th, 2010, we will wear purple in honor of the seven gay boys who committed suicide in recent weeks/months, many of them due to homophobic abuse in their homes or 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. 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."


Well said I must say. Despite the day almost ending I urge anyone (like I urged 4 friends today) reading this to put on anything they have that is remotely purple. Shit, even wear blue and red together - those colors make purple; this would work if you don't own any purple. Most importantly, the article I posted above said to "symbolically" wear purple everyday. Victims of hate and violence should always be remembered no matter who they are. It is imperative to better understand the people we cross paths with because respect and acceptance, as well as tolerance of others is a start to making the world a better place (Not to sound cheesy here but it's true). 


Here's to Tyler Clementi, Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg, Raymond Chase, Asher Brown, Cody J. Barker, Harrison Chase Brown, Caleb Nolt, Billy Lucas, Jeanine Blanchette, and Chantal Dube, as well as those others victim to hate crimes simply for being themselves.