Today, Friday 13th, second Friday of December, it’s Purple Friday in The Netherlands. Since this particular day is not officially recognized in Belgium, consider that we are associated with it.
The date changes depending on where in the world you are, but the meaning doesn’t change. Purple Friday is a day on which students wearing this color can show their solidarity with homosexuals, bisexuals, lesbians and transgender people. Since 2010 in the Netherlands, it’s held every year on the second Friday of December. In the US and Canada this day takes place on the third Thursday of October.
Young LGBT people in danger !
Paarse Vrijdad (translation for Purple Friday) is organized because schools in the Netherlands are often not yet a safe place for LGBTI youth. Half of all high school students have difficulty with overt expressions of homosexuality. The American Spirit Day was founded in 2010 on the initiative of a Canadian student who wanted to show her solidarity after the media in the United States had paid much attention to suicides among gay youngsters.
Purple Friday Newspaper
Started locally but has now grown nationwide, here is the Purple Friday Newspaper. This thirty-two-page newspaper contains educational and attractive articles that deal with sexual diversity. It focuses on secondary students of all ages and levels. In 2018, 250 schools ordered the newspaper for 70,000 students but over 500 schools had their Paarse Vrijdag. The newspaper is accompanied by a teacher’s guide.
“Celebrate love wearing purple” is the motto chosen by gsa (Gay-Straight Alliance), the Dutch association which manages the operation across the country and ensures its media coverage. Some would say that it duplicates the IDAHOT celebrated in May. Our communities are still under pressure and oppression, so we may not have enough time to remember that we are all equal with two days in the year.
This year in the Netherlands, gsa had made 1000 promo packs available for young people who wanted to run the operation in their school. Everything went away very quickly. Pretty encouraging, right ?
