Wear it Purple day is a yearly event dedicated to raising awareness and support for the LGBTQIA+ community. To get involved, individuals are encouraged to wear purple and host events to demonstrate that they recognise and celebrate gender diversity and queer youth.
River Nile School celebrated in a few ways. Keeping our first event small as not to overwhelm our CALD students who may not have encountered such concepts before.
To mark the day, our school community were invited to wear purple or rainbow clothing. Teachers were given information to help them talk to students about the day. A casual lunchtime session with Budi Sudarto, a queer Muslim non-binary person, was arranged for students to drop in and 'ask them (almost) anything'.
It was important for RNS to celebrate and for teachers to show their support, as we want to ensure all students understand our environment is safe and respectful towards queer people.
Teachers said that students were keen to verbalise support for LGBTQIA+ people in class and many responded well to messages of anti-bullying and anti-discrimination. A handful of students engaged with the Ask Them Anything session. The students who attended said that it was incredibly powerful and meaningful for them to see that they are respected and loved by the staff in their school community.
