“Diversity matters all year round”
The city of Leeuwarden was the Netherland’s national center of celebrations regarding Coming Out Day and Pink Saturday. Numerous activities in the city attracted many to join and also show support to the LGBT+ community.
There is certainly reason to celebrate, but pupils and teachers also see these activities as a form of protest and of raising awareness on bullying and violence against the LGBT+ community. The local media focused on personal stories to show how difficult it can be to grow up without support of your own sexual orientation and/or gender. The stories they carried illustrated the importance of schools and teachers in creating a safe space for all.
The Leeuwarder Newspaper devoted an article (link) to the question of how the amount of attention sexual diversity is given differs wildly depending on which school pupils attend. The article also mentioned All Inc! and the secondary school of Piter Jelles !mpulse as one of the forerunners on the subject.
This post contributed by the Dutch team of Ernesto and Ralph; they have kindly provided a picture of the article that mentions our project, which is originally behind a paywall — bedankt team!