Wear It Purple Day is an annual awareness day for LGBTIQ+ youth, which lands on the last Friday of every August.
Wear It Purple day is a day which celebrates diversity in schools, universities, workplaces and the wider community, and obvs, is a day to wear purple to signify unity.
Established in 2010, Wear It Purple Day was co-founded by Katherine Hudson and Scott Williams, who realised they were hearing waaaaaay too many stories from across the globe where LGBTIQ+ kids were being bullied and harassed simply for being themselves, leading them to take their own lives.
One of these kids was Tyler Clementi, who, at only 18, sadly ended his life after his roommate outed him on twitter.
As more and more of these stories continued to pour out, the world was outraged and grieving the loss of these young LGBTIQ+ people who were lost, far too soon.
Some people (like Katherine and Scott) had a newfound sense of conviction and purpose to guarantee that young LGBTIQ+ people around the world knew that there were people out there that had their back and loved them for who they are.
Although we’ve made enormous strides over the past 10 years, we still have a long way to go.
LGBTIQ+ people are far more likely to experience sentiments of suicide or attempt suicide in their lifetime, and a frighting 75% of LGBTIQ+ youth still experience some form of discrimination because of their sexuality or gender identity.
So, Wear It Purple Day is a day that does a few things – it provides opportunity for education around sexuality and gender diversity, it battles these harmful stereotypes that surround the LGBTIQ+ community, and it shines a beautiful rainbow spotlight on the fact that LGBTIQ+ people are regular human beings who aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Whether you’re part of the LGBTIQ+ community or not, this is the day to wear your favourite purple shirt, dye your hair Violet Beauregard purple and/or paint your nails eggplant emoji purple, to show your support for LGBTIQ+ youth and remind them that they are loved and accepted for who they are and should be proud of that.
THE DETAILS
The what: Wear It Purple Day
The when: The last Friday of every August
The why: To show your support for LGBTIQ+ youth and remind them that they are loved and accepted for who they are and should be proud of that.
The more info: wearitpurple.org
