In early October 2010, Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan promulgated the observance of a new commemoration called Spirit Day, the first observance of which took place on October 20, 2010, in which people wear the color purple

Purple

Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....

 to show support for LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 young people who are victims of bullying. Promoted by GLAAD, many Hollywood celebrities

Celebrity

A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

 wore purple on this day to show their support of this cause, and many websites added a prominent purple shade to their design.

The name, Spirit Day comes from the purple stripe of the Rainbow Flag

Rainbow flag (LGBT movement)

The rainbow flag, sometimes pride flag, LGBT pride flag or gay pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride and LGBT social movements in use since the 1970s. The colours reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of gay pride in...

, defined by Gilbert Baker

Gilbert Baker (artist)

Gilbert Baker is an artist and civil rights activist who in 1978 designed the Rainbow Flag, sometimes called the Pride Flag, Gay Pride Flag, or, since the early 1990s, Queer Flag, that is often used as a symbol of gay pride in LGBT rights marches.-Biography:Baker served in the U.S. Army from 1970...

, creator of that flag, as 'representing "spirit"'.

The observance was inaugurated in response to a rash of widely-publicized bullying-related suicides

Bullycide

The term bullycide is a portmanteau word first used in 2001 by Neil Marr and Tim Field in their book Bullycide: Death at Playtime. It refers to suicide attributable to the victim having been bullied, either in person or via social media. Bullycide has also been defined as the killing of the bully...

 of gay school students in 2010, including that of Tyler Clementi

Suicide of Tyler Clementi

Tyler Clementi was an eighteen-year-old student at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010. His roommate Dharun Ravi had video streamed Clementi kissing another man over the Internet without Clementi's knowledge,...

.

Over 1.6 million Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 users signed up for the event globally.

Further national and international attention was drawn to Spirit Day when Clint McCance, the vice-president of an Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 school board, posted incendiary anti-homosexual remarks on the Facebook social networking

Social network

A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...

 website. McCance ultimately apologised and resigned on the CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

 program Anderson Cooper 360, however he received further criticism for what many perceived to be an insincere non-apology apology

Non-apology apology

A non-apology apology is a statement in the form of an apology but that is not in fact an apology at all. It is common in both politics and public relations...

, including from Dr. Phil in a later Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper

Anderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...

 interview. McCance submitted his resignation letter to the Midlands School District

Midlands School District, Arkansas

The Midland School District is based in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas and operates the public schools in Independence County, Arkansas. The district was formed in 1985 when the schools in Floral and Pleasant Plains were consolidated....

effective November 1, 2010.