Archie Comics' Kevin Keller has been chosen to serve as a
Spirit Day Ambassador for GLAAD's annual anti-bullying campaign. On October
17th, Archie Comics, along with many other participating corporations, national
landmarks, celebrities and schools will "go purple" in a show of
support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth.
Kevin Keller was introduced in 2010 as the first gay
character in Archie history, the same year that GLAAD initiated Spirit Day to
spread awareness that LGBT youth don't have to stand up to bullying alone. This
year, the Kevin Keller ongoing series was awarded the GLAAD Media Awards for
Most Outstanding Comic Book and Archie Comics is honored that Kevin will become
the first ever fictional character to be selected as a Spirit Day Ambassador.
"We are delighted and thrilled that GLAAD has
selected Kevin Keller as a Spirit Day Ambassador," said Archie Comics
Publisher/co-CEO Jon Goldwater. "We have worked hard to make sure that
Kevin stands for acceptance and equality and so this is a huge honor."
Previous Spirit Day participants include The White House,
Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Shaquille O'Neal, The View, The Talk, The Tonight
Show, the NBA, the NFL, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, Facebook, Twitter,
Tumblr, the Las Vegas Strip, and George Takei, who appeared as a special guest
star in the Kevin Keller comic book. For more information, visit
http://glaad.org/spiritday.