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Australian students create LGBT+ mural at police station

Over 400 students from seven different schools gathered at a Victorian police station in Australia to create an LGBT+ mural. Students threw balloons filled with paint against the blank walls of the station to create a unique splattered rainbow design.

 

The project was organised by non-profit Merri Health and Moreland City Council in the lead up to the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on May 17.

 

Victoria Police Community Engagement Acting Inspector Troy Papworth told the press the mural is “a symbolic way for the community, including police, to show that we’re taking a stance against violence and discrimination.”

 

He hopes that it will “encourage everyone to speak to us if they need help.”

 

“I think the arts is a really intelligent and powerful way to engage young people in acts of social justice and allyship,” project creator and Merri Health Community Arts and Development Officer Russ Pirie said. “As a community, we don’t all need to be the same, no one needs to change and just need to learn to live together in a way which is safe and inclusive.

 

“Secondary school is the most unsafe place for queer young people, particularly trans youth who are the group most at risk of suicide of any community in Australia. When you look at young people who face discrimination, LGBTQIA+ people are unique because they are unsafe at school and when they go home they aren’t safe either.”

 

The project comes after the Australian Human Rights Commission released reports that 61 percent of LGBT+ people have said they have experienced verbal abuse because of their sexuality, while 18 percent have said they have experienced physical abuse.



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