Today is Wear it Purple Day, when we wear the color purple to show our support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA) youth. This day was founded in 2010 by two young Australian queer people: Katherine Hudson and Scott Williams.

It was in response to the death by suicide of an 18 year old American gay man, Tyler Clementi. He died after experiencing cyberbullying at his university, targeting his sexuality.

Initially, it was a day that recognised the mental health and wellbeing needs of young LGBTQIA people. Since then, it’s also grown to be a day of pride, and to celebrate queer youth leadership and their vision for the future.

Even if you’re not wearing purple already, you can still participate by having conversations with young people around you. Or maybe just watch some of the videos and materials that young people are producing, to see the many ways in which all of us can be more inclusive and welcoming of young queer people, and more responsive to their needs

Let’s remember that we can’t tell people’s sexuality by looking at them, and people shouldn’t have to tell us their sexual identity in order for us to be more proactive about supporting LGBTQIA youth.