Call for support: Purple Friday

December 8th is Purple Friday. This is a day in which students and university staff can symbolically show their support to the struggles that the LGBTQ+ community still faces. The perspectives that people have around this vary quite a bit. On one hand, there are people who argue that being queer in the Netherlands is already quite easy. On the other hand, there are people who argue that there are still many places where being queer is difficult. 

Research says that violence and discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community in general seems to have been increasing in the past 2-3 years [1]. Purple Friday isn’t going to solve this in the blink of an eye, but wearing purple clothing or accessories on Purple Friday can provide people who feel unsafe with nice reminders: that they are looked after by the TU Delft staff, that these waves of negativity do not represent the norm and, most of all, that other people acknowledge they feel unsafe. This visibility contributes in a very positive way to a better atmosphere on campus for the LGBTQ+ community.

Something will be organized at almost every faculty. For instance, there will be a number of places on campus where you can get purple bracelets, a presentation on how to be an ally, or you can use VR goggles to take a look into the life of a non-binary person.

Most students really value if teachers and staff wear purple, so we would like to invite you to wear something purple on the 8th of December. There will also be rainbow TU stickers at every service point that teachers can pick up and hand out. Let’s show that this campus is a welcoming place for all staff and students.