As young LGBTQIA+ people, we’re often restricted in expressing queerness in our homes and workplaces. Seeing a visible representation of support from other queer people and allies on campus helps us to feel safe, represented, and hopeful about a future where the queer experience isn’t equated with high suicide rates, mental health challenges, and youth homelessness.
For us personally, Wear it Purple Day is about the visibility of queer people. It’s a reminder that we don’t simply need to exist discreetly in professional and university settings, but can be celebrated loudly. As adults who lead very gay lives, surrounded by proud, radical, and staunch queers, it still makes us so happy to see staff and students wearing purple on campus. It makes us think about how tremendously important it is for those younger and more closeted, especially those in our UTS Queer Collective.
UTS staff showing their support for LGBTQIA+ youth for Wear it Purple Day, 2019. Photo supplied by Courtney Wooton.
That said, while wearing purple is a symbol for solidarity, symbolism means very little without taking action and changing the way we treat queer people day-to-day. There’s so much that goes into creating a safe, empowering and inclusive environment on campus.
Wear it Purple Day started in 2010 in response to the high suicide rates and mental health challenges homophobia causes for LGBTQIA+ young people. It's a symbol of the survival, strength and hard work of queer folks in Australia. Wear it Purple now aims to educate workplaces, schools and universities on how to support queer young people, with the day in August as one of their biggest fundraisers every year.
Queer students need to feel acknowledged and fought for. From representation, to safe spaces, to queer activism, there’s so much a university can do for its queer students.
The queer movement has come so far, but we cannot ignore the statistics: queer youth are still disproportionally affected by mental illness, sexual assault on campus, and homelessness. This is why safe, autonomous spaces on campus are vital. The UTS Queer Collective provides an autonomous space where queer students can find a sense of safety and belonging, knowing they always have a community to turn to on campus. In response to COVID this space has turned virtual. We are currently running weekly meetings, social events and workshops to ensure students still have a safe space and community to turn to.
Education’s also crucial. Queer students shouldn’t be responsible for their classrooms and campus feeling safe, but the university is instead responsible for making itself inclusive. In June, our Queer Collective partnered with the UTS Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion to host a panel about queer inclusivity in the classroom. The main takeaways for staff and students were to listen to queer people and include the perspectives of queer folks in academic life.
Some practical ways staff can foster inclusivity are:
- Asking students to introduce their name and pronouns instead of defaulting to what may be a deadname on the roll
- Thinking about queer perspectives in our subjects and encouraging students who wish to take that perspective to their assignments and classwork
- Decolonising concepts of sex and gender, and listening to the strong voices of First Nations queer groups and scholars
- Being kind, empathetic and informing themselves e.g. by attending Ally training, reading about the queer community and their history etc. For some folks, university might be the place where they first meet queer people.
Wear it Purple Day is about the visibility of queer people. It’s a reminder that we don’t simply need to exist discreetly in professional and university settings, but can be celebrated loudly.
Most importantly, universities must support and empower the voice of queer student activists; when existence is made political, you should be able to fight, with support, against oppressive forces.
While there’s still so much fighting that needs to happen, we can be grateful knowing there’s some visible support for queer youth. Together, the UTS community can work hard to make the world better for young queer folks, one zoom lesson at a time.
Want to get involved in Wear it Purple Day and show your support for LGBTIQA+ youth? Here are a few ways you can display your allyship on the day and beyond.