The Power of Purple

While we may not all be able to get together on campus to celebrate Wear It Purple Day again this year, UQ encourages all alumni, staff and students to show their support for the LGBTQIA+ community – no matter where you are.

The message is simple: you have the right to be proud of who you are and who you love – your LGBTQIA+ identity does not change that.

And all you have to do is wear purple if you agree.

Wear it Purple Day will be held on Friday 27 August. Like last year, UQ celebrations will be mostly held online in 2021, with everyone at UQ – including representatives from the UQ Ally Network – encouraged to post purple selfies and virtual messages of support.

Wear it Purple Day 2021’s theme is focused on the important and necessary conversations we have in our daily life; that centre around sexual orientation and gender identity. It aims to remind people that the issues we reflect on Wear it Purple Day should not only be considered on that particular day… but every day.

UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Deborah Terry AO said the University is fortunate to have an inclusive and wonderfully diverse learning community.

“We want everyone who comes to our campuses, including our LGBTQIA+ students and staff, to feel supported and safe to express themselves freely.”

“We want you to be proud of who you are and to always bring your authentic self to UQ," she said.

Listen to UQ President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Debbie Terry as she discusses how we can support our LGBTQIA+ community.

Infographic 1: Keep the conversation going. Everyday ways to support the LGBTQIA+ people around you. 1. Place visible signs of support around your workstation and on Zoom.

Infographic 2: Wear your Ally badge/lanyard.

Infographic 3: Include your pronouns on your email signature and Zoom name.

Infographic 5: Take a stand against negative and destructive language and assumptions.

Infographic 6: Be aware of your own language and assumptions – use people-centric language.

Infographic 7: If you get it wrong, correct yourself where appropriate and move on.

Infographic 8: Help to confront the silence and discrimination that normalises heterosexuality at the expense of people with diverse sexuality and gender.

Infographic 9: Educate yourself and be an agent of change to help develop and maintain an inclusive and diverse culture at UQ.

Watch the video of UQ staff showing their virtual support for the LGBTQIA+ community for Wear It Purple Day.

My Story infographic: Professor Tim Dunne, Deputy Provost. I will be wearing purple on 27 August. This personal story is one of the reasons why. Leaving home to go to ‘uni’ was an awakening. It was there I met others who’d had different childhood experiences, many of them more challenging than mine. In Freshers Week, I was introduced to a charismatic young man, J, who was wearing a white poloneck sweater and a tweed jacket. I was mystified as to how someone could look so good in all that ‘old English’ get-up. We talked and laughed as we forged a friendship that would last a lifetime. At the end of first year, we decided to move out of our halls of residence into a flat in the city. As we were planning our escape from campus life, my pal wrote to me to explain that there was something I should know before we signed the lease: that I would be sharing a flat with someone who was gay. As I learned more about his life I understood what it was like to be different, and how being different can be hard. J taught me so much. When I think of him, it reminds me that every day should be Purple Day.

UQ’s Director, Organisational Culture and Capability, Dr Dee Gibbon, said Wear It Purple Day was one of her favourite days on the Diversity and Inclusion calendar.

“Let's light up social media networks in support of LGBTQIA+ youth.”

Wear It Purple was founded in 2010 in response to global stories of real teenagers, many of whom took their own lives following bullying and harassment because of a lack of acceptance of their sexuality or gender identity.

Hear Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) and Executive Ally Professor Doune Macdonald express her passion for Wear It Purple Day.

In fact, Australian statistics reveal that LGBTQIA+ youth are five times more likely to attempt suicide than their similar-aged peers, and four times as likely to engage in self-injury. LGBTQIA+ people are also much more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health condition (73.2 per cent) across their lifetime compared with the general population (45.5 per cent).

UQ Executive Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Executive Ally, Professor Heather Zwicker, said that understanding and welcoming a wide expression of gender and sexual identities is really important.

“Wear It Purple Day is a positive reminder that LGBTQIA+ staff and students are welcome at UQ – no matter who you are, you are precious to this campus community,” she said.

“I truly believe that diversity is our strength; essentially, it's about learning from one another, which is what a university is all about.”

Listen to Executive Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Executive Ally, Professor Heather Zwicker, as she discusses the importance of including our LGBTQIA+ community in all university activities.

Be part of a movement that has the potential to save thousands of lives and wear purple on Friday 27 August 2021. Show your support online by posting a photo of yourself wearing purple on social media with the hashtag #WearItPurpleUQ, or donate to Wear It Purple.

You can also register to attend the Research Panel Do Robots have a gender? And other perplexing questions..., presented by the UQ Ally action committee.