Across American on Wednesday, LGBT people and their allies wore purple in remembrance of youth who have committed suicide due to anti-LGBT bullying, as part of a campaign organized by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network. Seemingly non-controversial, events like these have prompted strong reactions from conservative groups like the “Day of Truth,” organized by conservative Christian groups like the Alliance Defense Fund and Exodus International as a way to “to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective,” in response to the Day of Silence traditionally observed by high school and middle school LGBTA students across the nation. While anyone who wore purple on Wednesday would have been protected under the First Amendment, according to legal experts TheColu.mn contacted, some school administrators have tried to discourage observance of the Day of Silence in the past, in order to placate vocal, conservative local leaders. It was a pleasant surprise, then, that LGBTA activist groups across Minnesota have heard of very few – if any – incidents of official attempts to keep the peace by preventing purple protests in their schools.

Early Wednesday, a rumor had spread on Facebook that Hastings High School, in Hastings, Minnesota, was banning the wearing of purple for the day. However, according to Adam Robbins of OutFront, Minnesota, the rumor was false. In an email to TheColu.mn, Robbins said that OutFront staff had contacted the school’s principal, who sent a somewhat-emotional reply outlining the school’s efforts to combat bullying – it turns out that, not only is this week is “Ally Week” at HHS, but school is closed Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for teacher’s workshops.

In an email provided to TheColu.mn by OutFront, Principal Mike Johnson told the activist group that “Ally Week” is intended to “[promote] positive interactions between all students and contributing to a positive school climate. Many students and staff are wearing ALLY shirts this week, including myself tomorrow, just like we wear other sports and club shirts to support students groups at HHS.”

With official support, Johnson says, the school’s Gay Straight Alliance is trying to get their fellow students to sign a pledge to stop anti-LGBT bullying in school, that outlines specific steps people can take to help.

Anti-bullying experts generally agree that LGBT teens who have supportive school environments do better in school. Jessi Tebben, the in-house anti-bullying expert in the Minneapolis Public Schools, told TheColu.mn in an interview that actions by students were essential.

“I feel like when we talk about how to change something in a school system there’s only a focus on one constituency – staff and administration,” Tebben said. “But families and kids can do a lot to change school climate.”

Tebben held up last year’s “Stand Up, Speak Out, South High” event as an excellent example of this. Students, working with limited help from staff and community organizations, recruited about 100 peer educators to do presentations about racism, sexism, and homophobia, and offered mini-seminars to the whole school about the impact of these “-isms,” and ways to stop them.

“Students outnumber staff by a lot,” Tebben pointed out. “Kids set the tone and the norms, and we [staff] can influence that.”