What the Fuck Is Spirit Day?

Really? What the fuck is it?

I first heard about it this morning on Deadspin. Apparently the Atlanta Braves posted about it on Facebook, and fans showed their displeasure. Hardball Talk noted the same reaction by Dodgers and Mets fans.

But we all know most people online are complete scumbuckets who should probably be forced to be sterilized, preferably without anesthetics or pain killers. It’s like the Twitter account Baseball’s Best Fans. Sure it’s fucked up, but all fan bases have fans that are that fucked up.

So whatever. No skin off my ass. But I really wanted to know what the hell this Spirit Day is all about.

My first note that this is bullshit is the fact it’s the work of GLAAD. If anyone deserves to be bullied, it’s those people in organizations like GLAAD and HRC.

The whole goal is that by wearing purple, bullying will go away! From the GLAAD website:

Millions wear purple on Spirit Day as a sign of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth and to speak out against bullying. Spirit Day was started in 2010 by high school student Brittany McMillan as a response to the young people who had taken their own lives. Observed annually, individuals, schools, organizations, corporations, media professionals and celebrities wear purple, which symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag. Getting involved is easy — participants are asked to simply “go purple” on October 17th as we work to create a world in which LGBT teens are celebrated and accepted for who they are

How fucking insufferable.

Wearing purple is not going to stop bullying. Wearing purple is not going to stop queer kids from offing themselves. Wearing purple won’t spark the dawn of the age of Aquarius.

If kids are getting bullied, help them. If kids are so depressed they are thinking about ending it all, help them. Painting yourself in purple and repeating the asinine marketing lines like, “It gets better,” won’t help these kids.

What gives organizations like GLAAD and HRC hardons is the photo-op and the sound bites. Years ago when I emailed these groups about doing “A Day without a Gay” similar to “A Day without a Mexican”, GLAAD didn’t respond and HRC said that it was too extreme.

My thinking was that if they didn’t want to give us queers equal rights, let’s see the breeders try and live a day without us. Perhaps that was too direct and confrontation for them. It would force them to get a little dirty and could possibly soil their pristine suits and Prada loafers.

So really. Fuck Spirit Day. Real life problems can’t be solved by a fucking pep rally.