More schools took part in Purple Friday this year to support LGBTQ+

Purple Friday, dedicated to showing solidarity to people from the LGBTQ+ community, was celebrated in many more schools and educational institutions in the Netherlands this year. In the past, mainly secondary schools and vocational schools paid attention to diversity and acceptance on the second Friday in December. This year primary schools, colleges and universities joined in, NU.nl reports.

Purple Friday started as a student-run campaign, but has since grown far beyond that, Freek Janssens of LGBTQ+ interest group COC Nederland said. "There is an increasing demand for support for this day."

COC Nederland put together teaching packets and kits with material that helped schools get started. These range from craft supplies, poems and picture books for primary schools, to manifestos for colleges and university.

Janssens stressed that people can also show their solidarity in other ways. "You could do that by simply wearing a purple shirt," he said.

The interest group found that primary schools mainly use Purple Friday to stress that everyone can be who they are, while higher education focuses more on social safety. In secondary school, it s a combination of the two.