Purple celebration

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Intereach will celebrate Wear It Purple Day on Friday, August 28.

Wear It Purple highlights the importance of encouragement, empowerment, and emphasis on making effective change for LGBTIQQA+ or rainbow young people and other disenfranchised groups of people.

Intereach will send a clear message of support to rainbow youth by decorating its Deniliquin office space and the Napier St window in purple. During COVID-19 restrictions some staff are working from home, so the purple theme will also be celebrated virtually so everyone can be involved.

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“This year marks the fourth time Intereach has formally celebrated Wear It Purple Day, but the organisation has been supporting local rainbow youth for far longer than this, especially in the Deni area,”

Guy Hussey - Intereach project officer

Along with staff being encouraged to wear purple outfits on the day, the celebrations will be supported with a pre-recorded introduction by a member of Intereach’s PRIDE Reference Group, a reading of Todd Parr’s ‘The Family Book’, and other presentations and resources that staff can view at their leisure.

Staff dress-ups are sure to provide some inter-office competition across Intereach’s 17 sites, with categories including:

  • Best dressed individual
  • Best dressed team
  • Best head dress
  • Best dressed office
  • Best drag outfit

Wear It Purple was founded in 2010 in response to global stories of real teenagers suffering heartache about being ‘outed’ and the real responses they experienced. In 2010 several rainbow young people took their own lives following bullying and harassment resulting from the lack of acceptance from family and friends of their sexuality and/or gender identity.

“The celebration of Wear It Purple Day is even more significant in regional and rural locations where there are minimal or no formal organisations or groups to support rainbow youth to live their authentic lives,” Mr Hussey said.

Wear It Purple strives to foster supportive, safe, empowering and inclusive environments for rainbow young people.

Anyone requiring crisis support can contact NSW Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511, Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.