The number of schools celebrating Purple Friday is growing rapidly. On Friday, around three thousand schools will participate in the day dedicated to sexual and gender diversity. Three years ago there were still a thousand, the interest organization COC told NU.nl.
On Purple Friday, attention is paid to sexual and gender diversity in education. Pupils, students and teachers wear purple to show support for the LGBTQ+ community and various activities are organised.
The number of participating schools is growing fastest among primary schools: more than 1,700 are participating this year. In 2020, then Purple Friday for the first time we celebrated in primary schools, there were still five hundred.
One of the primary schools taking part this year is the Sint Jozefschool in Moordrecht in South Holland. “If you believe that every child is important, then celebrate Purple Friday,” says Petra Barnhoorn, teacher of groups 5 and 6. “Everyone can be themselves and we want to spread that message at school.”
It’s also about the fact that it’s common for boys to have long hair and girls to play soccer.
“It’s important for students to see that it’s normal and fun for there to be differences,” she explains. “These differences are wider than for boys or girls. It’s also about the fact that it’s normal for boys to have long hair and for girls to play football.”
According to Barnhoorn, if a teacher propagates it, it can also help many students later in life. “If I’d heard in elementary school that it’s normal to like girls, she would have helped me a lot through puberty.”
Primary schools can apply for a Purple Friday package from the COC. Contains educational materials, such as a picture book for the lower grades. For the upper classes, in addition to the teaching materials, there is also a game show.
Pupils are committed to ensuring a safe environment at school
In secondary schools, Purple Friday is organized by students from COC’s Gender & Sexuality Alliances Network (GSAs). GSAs are groups of pupils who support a safe environment in school. A GSA can be set up by the students themselves, possibly with the support of the COC or a teacher.
“I have a feeling that kids who dropped out of elementary school don’t know how to deal with someone who’s gay or lesbian, for example. Often they haven’t learned anything about that,” says 14-year-old Patrick Mooijekind, a third-grader at Rembrandt College by Veenendaal. With various activities, such as a diversity quiz, the GSA of him hopes to get the conversation going.
Purple Friday is also important, he says, because then the GSA is more visible. “It can be very important to the community. There are all the people who can help you because they’ve been through the same thing.”
Waarom paars?
- Paarse Vrijdag is geïnspireerd door het Amerikaanse Spirit Day. In 2010 introduceerde het COC de dag in Nederland om steun te betuigen aan leerlingen die lesbisch, homo, bi, trans of intersekse zijn. Lhbtiq+-jongeren worden namelijk veel vaker gepest dan heteroseksuele klasgenoten. De paarse kleur komt uit de regenboogvlag en staat voor ‘spirit’, oftewel karakter en kracht.
