This article was published on October 31st, 2018
It’s time to take a stand and show your support for your friends, loved ones, allies, and people in your life. With a rampant undertone of negativity circulating on social and mainstream media, it’s time to engage in some positivity, including standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves. International Stand Up to Bullying Day is November 16. Rise up, take a stand, and support the down trodden and under dogs of the world by wearing pink and choosing to fight against intolerance this International Stand Up to Bullying Day.
Now in its 10th year, International Stand Up to Bullying Day is a 24 hour period honored and celebrated around the world to bring attention to the real aspect of bullying in every day life. Coinciding with Anti-Bullying Week held in many Western nations, International Stand Up to Bullying Day comes at a time when there is heated debate on how humans have been treating each other as of late.
Started in 2008, International Stand Up to Bullying Day began with 236 schools, clubs, and organizations comprised of 125, 000 students, teachers, volunteers, and workers wore the color pink and signed a pledge to stand up to bullying. Now, stand up to bullying day is celebrated internationally in more than 28 countries on the third Friday of every November.
2018 is a particularly important year, because it marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard.
The LGBT community seems like it is directly under attack as of late with a series of anti-queer hate crimes sprouting up in various places once thought of as gay safe havens. Cyber bullying is at an all time high. Trans rights are under constant threat, especially after the recently leaked White House memo. And the rate of suicides in Western nations of queer people is rising.
Get involved:
- Wear pink on International Stand Up to Bullying Day
- Make a commitment to stand up to and oppose bullying.
- Carry pink flags or signs with them or physically wear the color to show victims of bullying that there a peer support system willing to stand up for them.
- Make a charitable donation to a group like The Trevor Project, ACLU, or ERASE Bullying.
- Speak up.
Now is the time to be there for your own community: the LGBT community. By changing the narrative, standing up to, and fighting bullying at home and abroad, the LGBT can together rise above the hate. Don’t be a Melania. This International Stand Up to Bullying Day, take a stand. Wear pink. October is national bullying prevention month. Celebrate your freedoms, and make a pledge to forever try and fight to irradiate hatred and bullying forever. International Stand Up to Bullying Day is November 16, 2018.
