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Pink Shirt Day occurs annually in Canada on the last Wednesday of February. This year, Pink Shirt Day is on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
Where did Pink Shirt Day originate?
The day started in 2007, when David Shepherd and Travis Price (high school students in Nova Scotia) witnessed how fellow student Chuck McNeill was threatened with violence and received homophobic insults for wearing a pink polo shirt on the first day of school.
After witnessing this mistreatment, Shepherd and Price went home, bought and distributed fifty pink shirts for themselves and other students to wear and stand in solidarity with McNeill. Shirts were dispersed and worn by the following day – the students had each other's backs immediately.
When asked why he wanted to do this, David Shepherd said, “I just figured enough was enough.”
As a community, the students came together to celebrate individual self-expression and worked to protect each other's right to do so. McNeill appreciated the gesture, and no further mistreatment followed. The students remained vigilant in their support.
Students should have the right to express themselves as they wish and likewise have the responsibility to accept the expression of others (so long as that expression does not cause harm).
This act of resistance against mistreatment was visibly bold, brought the community closer and had a lasting impact on not only the school, but globally. As people told this story, others recognized a framework of care to follow, and similar events to stand up against bullying and mistreatment popped up in response.
Why is Pink Shirt Day still relevant?
Pink Shirt Day is a way to acknowledge and address harm experienced by community members for their self-expression by standing in solidarity. It’s a day that visibly communicates with peers that you value community, and will stand up to protect their right to freedom of expression.
This year, the theme of Pink Shirt Day is “Let Kindness Grow,” and asks us to consider how we can cultivate a community of kindness in our own web of relationships. Through small acts of kindness – offering support or a place to listen, sharing a snack, saying hello to people – we can all contribute to a sense of belonging.
What can you do?
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, wear a pink shirt. It doesn’t have to be special, just pink.
Many craft stores will have blank cotton t-shirts, sometimes stores will have shirts that say “Pink Shirt Day.” You could even try washing a white shirt with a bunch of red ones and see what happens! Where the shirt comes from is less important than the act of wearing pink.
If you don’t have a pink shirt, that’s okay. There are plenty of other ways to show solidarity. If there’s some other article of clothing you have that is pink, that still counts. You can also paint your nails pink or wear a pink friendship bracelet. Most importantly, you can reflect on the actions you take to cultivate a community of belonging.
The focus is less on making sure you do the ‘exact right thing,’ and more about reflecting on how you can incorporate solidarity with your peers into your self-expression. Again, this starts small. If you notice someone missed class, offer to share notes you took. If you’re able, pack an extra snack (or bandaids, something daily and useful) in your bag to offer small, yet tangible forms of support to people who are learning and living alongside you. Do what you can to build a practice of care that cultivates a campus community that affirms the vibrancy within.
If you witness mistreatment, do what you can to minimize harm. There’s power in asking someone if they’re okay. There’s incredible potential for connection in offering to walk with someone to SUB to access campus resources.
Sometimes situations don’t need immediate security interventions, other times there are crisis events that require immediate response. Every situation is different, and asking those most impacted by the event what support would be best for them is a good practice that foregrounds connection and autonomy in your response.
The U of A is a place where people from many different backgrounds come together and form our campus community. It’s important that we value the pluralistic community of our campus. One way you can do that is by wearing a pink shirt on Wednesday, Feb. 26 for Pink Shirt Day.