Wear this shirt, create Utopia
So I decided to Learn More and went to their “Day of Pink” page.
Or is it the Courage Across Canada Tour page?
Or is it the Reopening With Pride page?
Or is it the United We Stand a Chance page?
It’s hard to tell. We’re offered all those on the front page. Much slogan, very little explanation.
But anyway, they do tell us some things, in pink lettering on a white page.
April 12, 2023 is the International Day of Pink!
Discrimination takes many shapes, whether it’s based on race, age, disabilities, gender or sexuality. The 2SLGBTQIA+ community is no stranger to the bullying and violence that stems from hateful beliefs. While progress has been made towards removing these social barriers from our society, discrimination still persists. So, every year, on the second Wednesday of April, we urge people around the world to put on a pink shirt and stand in solidarity with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to continue fighting for equality and acceptance.
Ok, that was not clear from the Toronto school board tweet. Of course one could take “pink” as a clue, but since all the rest of the content was general, that didn’t seem to be what they meant. Also, by the way, pink doesn’t=gay or homosexual or same-sex attracted in general, it’s a guy thing. On the other hand in straight world pink very often does signify girls and sometimes women. If wear pink day is about “the 2SLGBTQIA+ communninny” why isn’t there a color for the female ones? Just the usual reason? Women don’t matter? Or if it does mean girls and women then why is it for the 2SLGBTQIA+ communninny? They seem confused.
Whether it’s in Canada or beyond, we need to stand up against hateful beliefs to keep the clock from turning backwards on our efforts towards establishing equality for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. It’s time now to educate the future generation to not repeat history, demand more of our politicians and policy makers, and participate in creating real change through real effort.
What’s that got to do with wearing a pink shirt?
International Day of Pink has one purpose, to create a more inclusive and diverse world.
How can it do that? How can urging children to wear a pink shirt to school do that? Seriously.
We do this by encouraging young people to challenge social norms, ask more of their educators, and stand up against bullying towards their 2SLGBTQIA+ peers. Over the years we have worked with countless educators, politicians and organizations around Canada to spread this message and create young activists for this mission. We hope to continue this work and reach more communities with every passing year. We can only do this with your support and involvement. So please consider sharing our work, wearing our merch, donating to our cause, and joining our movement in any way you can.
Oh there it is – wear our merch!
Now I understand.
Or as H.L. Mencken reportedly said, “Nobody ever went broke by underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” Or words to that effect.
Canadian public in this case.
I wonder if any of the following are on the list of “hateful beliefs”:
In humans, there are only two sexes.
Humans can’t change sex.
Men can’t become women; women can’t become men.
Lesbians don’t have penises.
Etc….
And though they haul along the rest of the alphabet, I’d bet it’ll be all trans, all the time.
I know this looks like it’s supposed to be a worldwide thing, but I wonder how much of this is an attempt to emulate (copy? cash in on??) the widespread success, sympathy, and attention generated by Orange T-shirt day in Canada? Unlike the vague message disconnected from much of anything concrete and useful, Orange T-shirt day is quite a specific commemoration in Canada, with widespread support despite its recent origins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_for_Truth_and_Reconciliation
All the other absurdity aside… Asexuals are not marginalized; you can make a better case for the AGPs than for asexuals, it’s that weak.
Thanks for the heads up; I will not wear pink on Wednesday. (I don’t wear pink much anyway, but was wearing a pink scarf today).
Lots of Australian men wear pink, and not because they’re Gay.
Our Test Cricket team wears pink annually, as well as having pink wickets, bails, seats, etc. And not because they’re QUILTBAG.
They do it in honour of the late wife of one of our greatest bowlers and to raise money to allow more women access to breast cancer nurses.
Pink can be a force for good.
https://www.mcgrathfoundation.com.au/about/jane-mcgrath/
Rev, I agree. Which makes it another cooptation – this time, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I’m surprised they’re not peddling pink ribbons.
In the UK pink is worn to promote the Race for Life cancer charity event. All the participants of the run are women and the focus is on things like cervical cancer. It kind of rankles because they are reinforcing the idea that pink means female but it is such a good cause that no one says anything.
I wear a pink shirt quite often (though not at this moment), because I like it, not because of any desire to make a statement about my idennity. No one has ever thought that I was pretending to be a woman.
I have (fraternal) twin grandchildren of 7 years old. My granddaughter likes pink things and my grandson likes blue things. It seems to have come naturally. No one at home told them that girls were supposed to like pink, and boys blue, but maybe they were told that at school, and of course television programmes for children may promote that idea.