Teens wear purple against gay bullying

Tens of thousands of teens all over the US and Canada wore purple for a day to show they support gay teens and are against gay bullying.

At least 13 teens have killed themselves in the last year because they were being bullied for being gay. They include a 13-year-old boy who shot himself, a 15-year-old who hanged himself and an 18-year-old who jumped off the George Washington Bridge.

A teen from Canada called Brittany McMillian heard about the suicides and decided to do something to help. So she used Facebook to organize Spirit Day on 20 October, a day when teens would wear purple in support of gay teens.

Brittany wrote this message to gay teens on her Facebook page, “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 what your sexuality is.”

A recent study found that nine out of ten gay teens have been bullied and gay teens are four times more likely than other teens are to kill themselves.