The Day of Pink reaffirms our commitment and solidarity to stop all forms of bullying, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and transmisogyny. As workers on the front lines, CUPE members know first-hand the toll that rising anti-2SLGBTQI+ hate is taking. Too many have been targeted in their workplaces and in the community, face exclusion and violence, and added barriers to decent work, health care and housing.

This year’s theme for the Day of Pink is visibility, which encompasses being seen, acknowledged, respected, and heard. We wear pink in solidarity to resist homophobic and transphobic harassment, while fighting every day to protect public services that 2SLGBTQI+ people work in and rely on. CUPE will never stop working to improve the lives of Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and intersex workers.

Throughout the world, including in Saskatchewan and Canada, there has been an increase in the introduction of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ laws and policies as well as hate-based attacks. It is an important time to make it clear bullying and hate have no place in our classrooms, workplaces, and communities. We won’t let right-wing governments risk trans people’s safety and make CUPE workplaces unsafe. Together, let’s stand up for all workers. As trade unionists, we know an injury to one is an injury to all.

Last fall, Scott Moe and the Sask. Party launched an unprecedented attack on vulnerable youth in Saskatchewan schools, ultimately using the charter’s notwithstanding clause to suspend their charter rights and the charter rights of all education workers. The Sask. Party has a long history of attacking 2SLGBTQIA+ people through their opposition to gay marriage and refusal to enshrine the right to form Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) and other safer spaces in schools in law, and most recently the attack on charter rights and the replacement of the professionals and experts on the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission board with several underqualified, partisan appointments.

The International Day of Pink started in 2007 with a small but powerful action by two Nova Scotia teens to stand up against bullying. When a teenager faced homophobic bullying at a Nova Scotia high school for wearing a pink t-shirt, students organized to wear pink as an act of solidarity. It is now a day of action on the second Wednesday in April every year that has grown into a global movement against bullying.

On the International Day of Pink, we wear pink in solidarity against bullying and harassment and recommit to stop homophobia and transphobia in all its forms.

Resources:

• Resist attacks that divide us: CUPE stands with trans people

• Egale Canada: Rainbow Action Hub. Information & tools to combat hate

• Bargaining beyond the binary: A negotiating guide for trans inclusion and gender diversity

• Fact sheets on Pronouns and Allies on Gender Diversity

• Guide and pamphlet on workplace harassment

• Checklist for bargaining 2SLGBTQI+ rights

• Report on safer public services for 2SLGBTQI+ workers and older adults

• The Canadian Labour Congress publication: Workers in Transition Guide

Let’s work together to stop bullying and harassment.

#FreeToBeMe  #DayofPink

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