By Mikayla van Loon
When Yarra Ranges Council raised the Pride flag to stand side by side with the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags, an important milestone for Wear It Purple Day.
In a ceremony held on Friday 26 August at the newly developed council building, young people, council staff and councillors joined in the flag raising to recognise the LGBTQIA+ community.
Youth Ambassador Sien Withers-Burke said as a rainbow young person, seeing the Pride flag become a permanent part of the council will have such an impact on young people in the Yarra Ranges.
“As a rainbow young person myself, the rainbow flag being raised today means a whole lot to me,” they said.
“It shows that not only the council but the whole of the Yarra Ranges strives for inclusivity and makes me feel like it’s a safe place to be.”
Sien said as a rainbow young person, they didn’t have much support when trying to figure out who they were and what their sexuality was.
“Back then, just the thought of someone using they/them pronouns was insane and that was only 2017.
“I used to think the only place I could see a rainbow flag would be in someone’s window or garden but to see the rainbow flag being raised at the council building shows just how far we’ve come.”
For Youth Advisory Group member Tyrell Moller, seeing the flag being raised was something special.
“Long ago we didn’t think that something like this would actually happen and to see it happen makes you feel really special,” Tyrell said.
Tyrell said the reason young people seem to take charge when it comes to LGBTQIA+ issues and awareness is because often it can feel like adults don’t always understand.
“There’s a lot of us trying to figure out our sexuality and gender and just things around LGBTQIA+ and we probably feel like adults don’t really understand it, so when we take charge we just help each other.”
Approaching an adult can sometimes be quite intimidating, so Tyrell said having a group of young people to share experiences with and find a connection to is vital for finding who you are and learning about your sexuality.
Wear It Purple Day is specifically designed for LGBTQIA+ young people to celebrate their gender and sexuality, while joining a community where they can feel safe and empowered.
Tyrell said having a day for youth themselves “makes them feel so included” and “gives them a safe place to be.”
Yarra Ranges Council CEO Tammi Rose said as part of the Civic Centre redevelopment, it was important to the council that a fourth flagpole was installed to ensure a Pride flag could be a permanent feature.
“We wanted to include a flagpole which allowed us to then have moments like today where we can show our solidarity and raise a flag that shows a visual sign of support for many different days that we need to celebrate,” she said.
While as a society, Tammi said we have come a long way, work still needs to be done.
“We know that the LGBTQIA+ community still experiences discrimination, violence and abusive behavior and leads to much worse mental health outcomes,” Tammi said.
“Today isn’t just about raising the flag though. It’s about having a very public and a very noticeable sign of support. It’s about starting conversations with our co-workers, with our friends and with our community about the importance of the Pride flag in showing support.”
Deputy Mayor Johanna Skelton had the honour of raising the flag alongside Sien and said she hopes for the day when gender and sexuatlity is not a point of division but of normal life.
“Days like this exist, so that grownups and young people alike can gather around and give a massive community hug to all the people who are still suffering [from] people judging them on their gender and sexuality and people responding to them differently.
“Laws and systems aren’t fair yet, we’ve got so far to go…we need to respect and honour and welcome people of all genders and sexualities.”
