Surrey Schools takes on homophobia and transphobia with Pink Shirt Day

As Pink Shirt Day returns to spread messages of kindness in the face of bullying, many schools in the district are examining the roots of the annual anti-bullying day in taking a stand against homophobia and transphobia.

Started in 2007, Pink Shirt Day began as a small act of kindness by several Nova Scotia teens after witnessing a Grade 9 classmate get bullied and called homophobic slurs for wearing a pink shirt. The next day at school, the students wore their own pink shirts and distributed others to classmates in a show of solidarity against bullying, intimidation and harassment.

“Pink Shirt Day was in response to secondary students experiencing homophobic and transphobic bullying, and their response was to counter that by wearing pink shirts, regardless of who you were,” said Nicole Curtis, an inclusive practices helping teacher with Surrey Schools. “We want to break up the gender stereotypes of people falling into certain categories with how they look, act, speak, dress, and the associations that we make with sexual orientation related to that.”

Curtis’ work involves helping staff and schools create more inclusive learning spaces for students. She provides teachers, administrators and support staff with resources such as the SOGI 123 Pink Shirt Day toolkit – which includes recommended videos, books, activities for K-12 students – to build in intersectionality, physical safety skills and assistance around responding to bullying based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

“We’re really working with teachers and school staff to bring about that awareness for our schools and addressing what it looks like or sounds like when there is homophobic or transphobic bullying, and how to respond to it,” she said. “Generally, we are becoming more aware and more open in our district, we’re doing some really great work.

“There are still those assumptions that underly our beliefs and biases that we’re living with and not always aware of, and we want to unpack those in different ways at different levels.”

Curtis said the district’s SOGI leads do amazing work to ensure all students feel safe, supported and welcomed in their schools. She also credits the district’s Protecting Surrey Schools Together (PSST) website for its SOGI resources, which include clear definitions for gender identity and expression, tips for inclusive language, and a confidential platform to report incidents of discrimination or bullying.

Ahead of this year’s Pink Shirt Day, Curtis highlighted the efforts of the Ray Shepherd Elementary community, which hosted a diversity week at the beginning of February to celebrate cultural diversity, SOGI and different aspects of identity, including neurodivergence and diverse abilities.

“It was a nice way to acknowledge all of these pieces and bring them together,” said Curtis. “It creates a very warm and welcoming school community atmosphere that we strive for.”

Happy Pink Shirt Day!