GLBT Members and Allies of the Prairies:
April 11, 2012 is the International Day against Bullying, Discrimination, Homophobia and Transphobia in schools and communities.
This is a Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) initiative that brings all Canadian unions into local schools and communities for a day. PSAC is a member of the CLC.
Celebrate diversity, show your solidarity, and raise awareness to end bullying by wearing a pink t-shirt and organizing Day of Pink events in your workplace, communities and schools. Together, we can put a stop to homophobic and transphobic bullying, discrimination and violence.
Learn more about the Day of Pink. You can also download your very own D.I.Y Day of Pink solidarity decal and print it using iron-on transfer paper to create your own t-shirt (a light pink shirt will work best).
This promotion could enhance our PRIDE initiatives by kicking off the PRIDE season a month early; prior to the International Day Against Homophobia on May 17 and most PRIDE celebrations happening throughout June (September Labour Day weekend in Calgary).
There is also an American initiative from GLAAD on October 20 (Spirit Day: Wear Purple on October 20 to Raise Awareness of Anti-Gay Bullying), and we end the annual cycle with World Aids Day on December 1.
I hope this will also help you (or your Human Rights Committees) identify PRIDE themed events outside your office walls, thus giving you a better look at what is happening before our youth enter the workforce in the near future.
Linking our members to possibly joining or volunteering in their own communities such as the It Gets Better project, created by Dan Savage and endorsed by celebrities like Lady Gaga and Madonna, telling their fans that bullying and homophobia is wrong.
We need to not forget our past, we need to uphold the present and we need to make sure our youth of the future understand how their lives were built on the hard work and sacrifice of many brothers and sisters who endured countless acts of verbal, electronic and physical bullying before them.
Timothy J. Hunt
GLBT Representative
PSAC Prairie Region Council