Today, LGBTQ youth, and especially our trans and nonbinary youth, are experiencing a level of scrutiny in schools we have never seen, leading to an environment rife with stressors beyond the peer-to-peer bullying of the past. From book bans to sports teams bans, to bathroom restrictions and teachers barred from using students’ pronouns, the means by which a student can express themselves and see others like them are increasingly being challenged.
GLAAD’s Spirit Day offers LGBTQ youth and their families a means of visibility and existence only made possible by providing life-saving visibility for those who need it more than ever.