Wear it Purple Day 2022
Written by Nicholas Baker, Registered Psychologist
Friday the 27 the of August is the 12th annual Wear it Purple Day. Wear it Purple was founded to increase awareness and support for LGBTIAQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Asexual, Queer +) young people in response to this community’s increased risk of suicide and adverse mental health outcomes.
While other events throughout the year such as Pride month also focus on celebrating the LGBTIAQ+ community, Wear it Purple day emphasises the importance of ally visibility. For this community, the research is clear that having external support and affirmation from members outside the community is associated with reduced mental health risk and increased well-being. Therefore on on Wear it Purple Day to express this support by, funnily enough, wearing the colour - purple in any form.
Over the last decade, this charity has grown to include hundreds of schools, universities, community groups and businesses, and in 2020, reached over 600,000 young people with their events and support.
Wear it Purple (WIP) has become much more than one day of support and celebration, and provides year-long LGBTIAQ+ inclusivity training and resources, social spaces and opportunities for LGBTIAQ+ youth to connect with their community, fundraising and awareness raising for this community. As such, WIP’s four key focus areas have become:
Awareness
Providing support, training and resources to schools, universities, and other organisations to assist them in creating inclusive environments for rainbow young people
Opportunity
Providing chances for rainbow young people to develop skills, expand their communities and networks, and contribute to inclusivity within their own networks
Environment
Providing supportive and safe spaces (digital and physical) to support rainbow young people to feel proud of who they are
Collaboration
Uniting with other organisations to further support the inclusion of rainbow young people.
In Brisbane, many local organisations such as Queensland Council for LGBTI Health, Brisbane Pride and Open Doors Youth Service partner with WIP to facilitate training and events during Wear It Purple Day and throughout the year. Here at True North Psychology, we seek to affirm and support our rainbow young (and not so young) people to celebrate their lives and identities. If you would like to know more about Wear It Purple Day, or would like to get involved, please feel free to visit https://www.wearitpurple.org
So, whether its amaranthine or heliotrope, magenta or periwinkle, we hope to see you wearing it purple, this Wear It Purple Day, the 27 the of August