“Still me, Still Human’ – 2022 Wear It Purple Day

Today, 26 August is ‘Wear It Purple Day’ – a day to celebrate and show support and acceptance to rainbow young people.

Wear it Purple is an Australian organisation founded in 2010 in response to a need to show support and solidarity for young people struggling with their gender identities and sexualities.

Development Victoria is proud of our diverse and inclusive workplace - and we strive to foster an inclusive, equitable workplace by growing our collective understanding of diversity and its benefits.

While we have achieved much in terms of LGBTQIA+ rights in Australia, it’s still difficult for young people struggling with their gender identities and sexualities to feel safe being themselves. 

There is fear of being ridiculed, misunderstood, or even neglected by friends and family when first choosing to disclose one’s sexuality and/or gender identity.

Sam Cremean, Senior Engagement Advisor at Development Victoria, experienced these feelings growing up and knows that it contributes to poor mental health outcomes and higher suicide rates for young LGBTQIA+ people. 

“I experienced this overwhelming feeling when I was young, and this fuels my drive to support organisations like Wear It Purple,” Sam says.

Sam is working alongside our Diversity and Inclusion committee. This group is leading engagement and education in the Diversity and Inclusion priority areas across the organisation.

"Development Victoria takes diversity and inclusion at work seriously, and it’s one of the reasons I love being a part of the team,” says Sam. 

By wearing purple today, our team aimed to demonstrate to hundreds of thousands of rainbow young people across Australia that we see them, we support them, and we respect them.