Pride Week opens more doors to diversity and inclusion

Pride Week opens more doors to diversity and inclusion

Held from 21 to 25 August, RMIT Vietnam Pride Week 2023 created a safe space for members and allies of the LGBTIQAP+ community to foster understanding and connection.

The annual RMIT Vietnam Pride Week is a student-led campaign to raise awareness of issues and barriers to inclusion, create spaces of belonging and share stories that have the power to connect people.

Themed R-Doore You [a portmanteau of “RMIT”, “door” and “adore you”], this year’s Pride Week celebrated how unique, diverse and loveable all orientations, genders and identities are.

Collage of R-Doore-You backdrop, RMIT Pride flag, and four students wearing Pride shirtsThis year’s RMIT Vietnam Pride Week took place from 21 to 25 August 2023.

Dinh Pham Bao Nghi, Vice President of the RMIT Vietnam Student Council and a supervisor of the project, explained: “Pride Week aims to spread the message that at RMIT you can be true, be you, open the door of your heart and R-Doore [adore] yourself!”

“We believe in the power of taking small steps. It is not just about providing education about the LGBTIQAP+ community. It’s also about challenging harmful stereotypes and assumptions, boldly standing up to discrimination and microaggressions, and most importantly, letting the voice of the community be heard, embraced and amplified,” Nghi said.

Let’s look back at some highlights from Pride Week 2023:

The week kicked off with a video about the Pronouns Culture by students from the RMIT Mind Club, where they shared their thoughts on gender identity and the importance of using pronouns in daily conversations as a way to promote inclusion.

Collage of portraits of eight speakers in the video

Pronouns Culture | RMIT Vietnam Pride Week 2023

In the lead up to the official Pride Week, the RMIT Vietnam Library hosted two weeks of mini games to share knowledge about the LGBTIQAP+ community. Participants in the mini games each won a ticket to join the “Rainbow Garden: Paint a Planter” workshops during Pride Week. Here, they could creatively paint and plant little pots of succulents, which together form a colourful rainbow garden.

“Rainbow Garden: Paint a Planter” workshop on the Saigon South campus.“Rainbow Garden: Paint a Planter” workshop on the Saigon South campus.

Students and staff on the Hanoi campus flocked to “The Rainbow Prism” exhibition to explore the history of the LGBTIQAP+ community in Vietnam through various visual presentations and craft colourful hair pins to show the Pride spirit. 

“The Rainbow Prism” exhibition and hair pin craft workshop in Hanoi.“The Rainbow Prism” exhibition and hair pin craft workshop in Hanoi.

Meanwhile, their peers on the Saigon South campus were invited to join the “Talk with Pride: The First Door to Open” eventto learn how the LGBTIQAP+ community define themselves, the ways people outside of the community can give effective support, and the ongoing efforts at RMIT to promote an inclusive and safe environment for everyone.

“Talk with Pride” was organised by the RMIT Mind Club with two guest speakers from RMIT Wellbeing’s Safer Community team.“Talk with Pride” was organised by the RMIT Mind Club with two guest speakers from RMIT Wellbeing’s Safer Community team.

Staff also had the chance to attend two in-depth discussions about LGBTIQAP+ parenting hosted by the RMIT Wellbeing and Human Resources departments. One session catered to LGBTIQAP+staff who are parents or parents-to-be, and the other session welcomed staff who have LGBTIQAP+ children or want to support their children or close relatives with coming out or transitioning.

The last day of Pride Week coincided with Wear it Purple Day, where RMIT staff and students were encouraged to show their support for young people of the rainbow community by wearing purple clothing or accessories.

Wear it Purple Day at the RMIT Vietnam Library on the Saigon South campus.Wear it Purple Day at the RMIT Vietnam Library on the Saigon South campus.

Pride Week came to a memorable end with the R-Doore You sharing session – a combination of games, team building activities and heart-to-heart sharing –and a cheerful flash mob in both the Saigon South and Hanoi campuses.

R-Doore You sharing session in Hanoi.R-Doore You sharing session in Hanoi.
Participants of the R-Doore You flash mob in Hanoi.Participants of the R-Doore You flash mob in Hanoi.
R-Doore You flash mob on the Saigon South campus.R-Doore You flash mob on the Saigon South campus.

Browse more moments from Pride Week on Flickr.

Story: Ngoc Hoang

30 August 2023

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