University of Melbourne celebrates International Transgender Day of Visibility

The University of Melbourne will display transgender flags across all its campuses this week in celebration of International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Transgender Day of Visibility, on Friday 31 March, is a day dedicated to celebrating the achievements and contributions of transgender and gender diverse people around the world.

University of Melbourne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (People and Community) Professor Pip Nicholson said while it is a celebration, Transgender Day of Visibility is also an opportunity to reflect on the work still needed to eliminate discrimination and other barriers to inclusion across all parts of society.

“Recent events and protests have again reminded us of the harmful and destructive consequences of hate speech and I acknowledge the distress and harm such events have caused our transgender and gender diverse staff, students, alumni and their allies,’’ said Professor Nicholson.

“We express our unequivocal respect and support to those members of our University community.

“The University deeply respects and values its diverse students and staff and stands with them in the face of vilification. While as a community we can and do disagree about issues, our exchanges must be respectful, fair and within the law at all times. Freedom of expression should never be an excuse for hateful, vilifying behaviour.

“As we look towards celebrating gender diverse identity, achievements, and community this week, the University is proud to stand by the LGBTQIA+ community.”

Read here for more details on how the University of Melbourne is celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility.