Wear It Purple Day
Each year the university takes part in celebrating Wear It Purple. We are committed to supporting young people and reminding them that they all have the right to be proud of who they are and that sex, sexuality and gender identity does not change this.
Wear it Purple Day is a day where individuals, schools, and workplaces “Wear It Purple” to show their support to rainbow young people and celebrate the diversity of the rainbow community.
It is about showing LGBTIQ young people that they have the right to be proud of who they are. It is about creating safe spaces to show LGBTIQ young people that they are seen and supported.
2022
This year students and staff across the University came together in their best purple to be visible and show their support and we have included some of their fabulous purple pics for you to see!
Rainbow Western, Queer Collective, SRC and Ally Network presented a Wear It Purple Day Queer- Focussed Panel: We’re Here and We’re Queer in the Workplace. It was a great success featuring a panel with a diversity of intersecting backgrounds talking about their experiences of being queer (with all the intersectionality) in the workplace, focusing on myth-busting, opportunities, and success stories. The audience also had the chance to ask questions and discuss points of interest to them.
Information and resources were also distributed to students and staff along with a call to take action in celebration of the day. Actions included adding pronouns to Zoom title, email signatures or name tags, amending forms to be more inclusive, using inclusive language within learning and work environments and being visible. These actions and many more can still be implemented by all of us as Allies! If you need more information or advice about any of these actions and more you can contact equityanddiversity@westernsydney.edu.au
2021
The 2021 theme is “Start the conversation… keep it going”.
This theme focuses on the important and necessary conversations we have in our daily life; particularly those that centre around sexual orientation and gender identity. It aims to remind people that the issues we reflect on during Wear it Purple Day should not only be considered on that particular day… but every day.
In 2021 we encouraged everyone to start the conversation by getting as purple as they could be.
Here's a sample of what we received:
When you’re in meetings, use it as an opportunity to start the conversation with your colleagues and keep it going. For some inspiration and zoom backgrounds please go to the Wear It Purple site.
2020
In 2020 we celebrated slightly differently and took our festivities to the virtual world. The Office of Equity and Diversity hosted Happy Hour and used the opportunity to discuss this years’ theme, We Are The Change. We spoke about the changes we’ve seen in the last few years, what we hope to change in ourselves personally and what changes we hope to see in the world in the future.
Where people could not join in for Happy Hour, we asked them to share their best purple images for the day.
Events like these are important as a reminder that even though we need to be socially distant, we are still united in our commitment to sexuality and gender diversity.
#WearItPurple
#WeAreTheChange
#Western
