This year Day of Pink is held on April 12 and CUPE Ontario is proud to recognize it as a day to celebrate diversity, especially in the 2SLGBTQI+ community.
In 2007, two students at Nova Scotia high school witnessed another student being bullied because he was wearing a pink shirt. That same day, they spoke to dozens of their schoolmates and organized an amazing act of solidarity: the following day, everyone at their school arrived wearing a pink shirt.
We look back at the first Day of Pink and recognize it not just as day motivated by compassion and solidarity, but as one that came about because of a magnificent act of organizing. It’s an example that we follow in our union today, whether it’s showing up for fellow workers when they are being exploited, joining striking members on a picket line, or turning out in our numbers to get out the vote for an NDP candidate in a by-election. And CUPE Ontario and the Pink Triangle Committee will continue to organize against anti-trans hate and for gender-affirming care across Ontario.
The theme for Day of Pink 2023 is “courage,” and as the fabulous Icesis Couture tells us in her Day of Pink launch video, the day is “focused on challenging homophobic and transphobic bullying and discrimination, while celebrating our community and all it brings to the world. It’s about having the courage to be strong, be yourself, stand up and never give up. To be loud, to be proud, to choose kindness, and to always be an ally.”
We live by those words in our union, and they’re why we join comrades, friends, and allies around the world in wearing our pinkest on April 12, as we commit to “celebrate diversity – demand equality – stand in solidarity.”
