Officers from Blue Mountains Local Area Command and the NSW Police Force were proud to be an active part of Wear It Purple Day on August 28.
Constable Kirstin McGilchrist and senior constable Mary-Lou Keating from Blue Mountains Police sported purple police shirts during their shifts on the day and visited Winmalee High School to promote the message of celebrating diversity and difference.
Many students responded to the call on their school's Facebook page to support the campaign by wearing purple-coloured accessories on top of their school uniforms.
The annual event is a youth-led national awareness campaign promoting the well-being of all young people and the prevention of bullying and youth suicide by encouraging young people to be proud of who they are.
Earlier in the week the build-up to the national awareness day took a blow when NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli ordered a scheduled screening during school hours of the documentary Gayby Baby - which is about a family with two lesbian parents - at Burwood Girls High School in Sydney be cancelled.
Mr Piccoli said the film's ban was not due to the content of the film, but rather because the screening would have led to the loss of valuable class time.
It didn't stop a blaze of purple appearing on students' uniforms at schools across the state, including Winmalee High School - and perhaps even led to more students choosing to participate on the day.
Wear it Purple Day founder Katherine Hudson told Fairfax Media "it was amazing seeing the amount of people who wanted to stand in defiance of the controversy".
Blue Mountains Police commander, Superintendent Darryl Jobson, noted that research shows that people who suffer discrimination or prejudice because of their sex, sexuality or status as gender diverse are seven times more likely to commit suicide, but young people who have support feel significantly better about their sexuality and are less likely to engage in self-harm or have thoughts of suicide.
"It is imperative that we raise awareness with respect to such an important issue," Superintendent Jobson said.
"We are all different in many ways and we need to show tolerance and accept people for who they are. It is unacceptable that any person is treated in a discriminatory way which makes them contemplate suicide.
"To the contrary, regardless of background we need to support our young people and how we do this today will reflect how society looks tomorrow".
