Mr. Speaker, today I stand in this House on the International Day of Pink, a day we come together to end all forms of bullying. It is a day we come together against bullying, harassment, hate, violence, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, ageism, colonialism and anti-Semitism.
We live in a world that can provide many vehicles for people to bully and we cannot ignore this growing trend. Instead, we can be pink shirt ambassadors.
Pink Shirt Day started when David Shepherd and Travis Price, two grade 12 students, decided they would make a difference. They saw a grade nine student who was wearing a pink shirt being bullied. The boy was called a homosexual for wearing pink and was threatened with being beaten up. Instead, David and Travis stood up for this young man by wearing pink shirts and having many others join them at their school in Nova Scotia.
We have to remember that anyone can bully and anyone can be victimized by bullying, but together we can stop it.