Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa is back for 2026!
Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa is an important annual campaign celebrating rainbow staff, students and whānau in school communities across the country.
Register to take part now by following the link in our bio, or visiting pride.school.nz
This year’s campaign runs from June 15 – 19 in Term 2, Week 9
For 2026, we are embracing the theme of “Community is Home” in collaboration with artist Wiz Butch.
Wiz Butch (he/they) is a trans artist from Scotland who calls Ngāmotu, Taranaki home. They dabble in a range of crafts including zines, illustrations and felting, taking inspiration from our communities, histories, and queer joy.
Celebrating Schools’ Pride Week is an important way for school communities to affirm that rainbow students, staff, and whānau belong. Whether you are a primary, intermediate or high school, an early education center, tertiary provider, or youth center, we would love to have you take part!
You can register as an individual student or staff member as well as on behalf of a QSA, student group or entire school.
Registering ensures that you and your school get all the relevant materials and information in the lead up to the campaign.
So what are you waiting for?!
Let’s make Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa 2026 the best one yet!
Only 4 weeks until Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa! 🐌
Make sure you register your School and help us make 2026 the best campaign yet! 🌟
You can register as an individual student or staff member as well as on behalf of a QSA, student group or entire school.
Registering ensures that you and your school get all the relevant materials, information and merchandise in the lead up to the campaign. This information is not shared with anyone or published anywhere, but registration numbers help us with funding. 🏳️🌈
Find the link to register in our bio
Happy Pink Shirt Day Aotearoa! 💖👚💗
Here at InsideOUT Kōaro, we exist to ensure that all Rainbow and Takatāpui rangatahi experience safety, belonging, and freedom to thrive in Aotearoa.
Pink Shirt Day is about working together to stop bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting kindness and inclusiveness.
The latest stats from Youth Mental Health & Wellbeing Survey 2025 reveal only 73% of students in Aotearoa think that their school is supportive of rainbow people, and even less (68.9%) agree their school is supportive of takatāpui, trans and gender diverse people. They also found 41% of rainbow students reported that they were bullied in the last 12 months, which is 15,700 students across the country!
These gaps are reflected in higher exposure to harm: approximately 9% of students report being bullied because of their gender, while 22% report bullying related to rainbow or LGBTQIA+ identity, one of the most common bullying reasons identified in the survey.
Rainbow students also experience poorer mental health outcomes, including higher rates of anxiety and depression. Inclusive schools initiatives like the services InsideOUT provide, help reduce barriers to help‑seeking, address the causes , and build protective factors including belonging and safety.
These stats show us that this campaign is more important than ever and we need your help!
@pinkshirtdaynz is funded by your donations. By donating to Pink Shirt Day, you’re helping create a kinder, more inclusive Aotearoa, where everyone feels safe, valued, and unafraid to be themselves.
Kōrero Mai, Kōrero Atu, Mauri Tū, Mauri Ora – Speak Up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying!
Pink Shirt Day. Speak up, stand up and stop bullying.
Some things are more important than party politics like Mental Health.
As the Chair of the Cross-Party Mental Health and Addiction Working Group I’m proud to stand alongside the Minister for Mental Health and Cross-Party National Party Member Vanessa Weenink in support of Pink Shirt Day. Our other Cross-Party Members, Labour MP and Deputy Chair Ingrid Leary, Te Pati Māori’s Oriini Kaipara, Act’s Laura McLure and NZF Jenny Marcroft are standing with us too (just in meetings that clashed).
Pink shirt day started when a kid in Canada got bullied for wearing a pink shirt to their first day of school. The kid was threatened and harassed, in response some high school students bought 50 pink tank tops and organised classmates to wear them in solidarity. A solid act of solidarity and defiance against homophobic bullying. It’s now a world wide annual event.
The Green Party will continue to put forward solutions to ensure everyone has access to the care and support they need. That means funding the organisations at the flax roots doing the mahi so our communities have access to timely and appropriate support services.
Speak up, stand up and stop bullying.
Pink Shirt Day is led by the Mental Health Foundation with support from InsideOUT, the Peace Foundation, New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA), Te Kaha O Te Rangatahi Indigenous Youth Hub, Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission, Cook Islands Development Agency and Asian Family Services.
Mana Atua, Mana Tipua, Mana Takatāpui e!
Today we raised flags of endurance, flags of hope, flags of community. This International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia, we stand in solidarity, we stand in support, we stand in power. Still here, still 🌈✨ Thank you @georgiedansey for bringing us together!
Do you love stickers?
Everybody loves stickers!
We have so many different sticker collections to choose from in our store including:
Brand New 2026 Schools’ Pride Week Stickers “Community is Home” 🐌
The snail motif reminds us that as rainbow and takatāpui people, we bring our home with us wherever we go.
In collaboration with Wiz Butch
“Everyone is Magic” ✨
Acknowledging the unique characteristics and experiences we have, and that our existence makes the world around us a little more magical
In collaboration with Fey Day Arts
“We are Everywhere” 🏳️🌈
Affirmation of the resilience, whakapapa and diversity of Aotearoa's rainbow communities. We are whānau and we belong.
In collaboration with Ren Kishine
“Poho Kererū” 🪶
A figurative expression referring to the puffed up plumage of the kererū. In inspired English, it may be adapted as 'full of pride' or 'puffed up with pride'.
In collaboration with Pounamu Wharekawa
All of these are free to order, but a donation is always appreciated.
So what are you waiting for?
Check out our store in our bio and get sticking!
Calling all libraries!
Our 2026 Out on the Shelves display competition is now open to entries and we can't wait to see how you show some pride in your libraries this June! 📚
School and community libraries are the cornerstone of the Out on the Shelves campaign. They are one of the few public spaces where rainbow young people can safely access representation, information, resources and community. This is especially in more isolated or rural areas. 🌈
By visibly participating in the Out on the Shelves campaign, libraries can actively demonstrate that they are a safe, inclusive place and that rainbow people are valued and reflected in their collections. 🧚♂️📖
So whether you are part of a community library, school library, community space or book store, we want to see you create your very own pride display.
We’ll be accepting entries for our display competition until 30th June and you can find the link to submit in our bio!
Such a positive day at Q-Crew today 🌈✨ with Lara visiting from @insideoutkoaro . We were each asked to write a supportive note to a rainbow student at another school—someone who may not have the same inclusive, accepting environment that we’re lucky to have at Papanui High 💌. It was a powerful reminder that a few kind, uplifting words can truly make a difference in someone’s life 💖
It’s time to order your Out on the Shelves Bookmarks! 📚📖🌈
Designed with artwork by @justawaimapuwitch and each showcasing 5 rainbow story titles to help you find literature that represents our communities.
Our 2025/2026 Bookmarks are available to order in sets - our genre and identity sets each include 14 different bookmarks, and our children's set contains 3.
All our bookmarks are available on our store for free, but a koha/donation is appreciated where possible to help us cover the postage and campaign costs to get these out to schools and libraries across Aotearoa. 🏳️🌈
You can find the link to our store in our bio!
In the last week of March, we held an official pukapuka launch for 'Of this Earth' at Thistle Hall, including a panel with Dr Elizabeth Kerekere, Dr Jessica Hutchings, Chelsea D'Cruz and Kiwa Kahukura Denton.
It was an amazing night filled with waiata from Tiwhanawhana, Te Wānanga o Raukawa ropu and Johan Kettle. The evening was filled with wisdom, the creation of the resource and special reflections from some rangatahi who contributed to the pukapuka.
Our hope is for this pukapuka to be a foundation for mental health providers, social workers, youth workers and anybody who supports rainbow/takatāpui rangatahi.
Of This Earth was created and authored by Johan Kettle and was made inside of the abiding pou of aroha and manaakitanga and the values of healing-justice.
You can now order this beautiful pukapuka from our store at the link below:
/products/of-this-earth-a-guide-for-mental-health-professionals-working-and-walking-alongside-rainbow--takatapui-rangatahi
Use your voice to strengthen education for all rangatahi - make a submission on the new draft HPE curriculum! 📢🌈
The Ministry of Education is currently seeking feedback on the draft Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum for Years 0–10 which includes relationships, sexuality, identity and consent education.
With your help, we advocated last year for RSE guidelines that would uplift our rainbow rangatahi, the release of the draft HPE curriculum is another opportunity to ensure rainbow inclusion in our curriculum.
We know how huge the positive impact of inclusive and supportive education environments is for students' wellbeing, so ensuring a curriculum that affirms the identities of our rainbow and takatāpui young people is so important.
Your voice can help strengthen education for all rangatahi - join us in submitting your feedback on this new curriculum to help ensure an inclusive and thorough education.
We've put together a submission guide to make the process of understanding the proposed curriculum and submitting your feedback as easy as possible - just head to the link in our bio to learn more and make your submission!
Happy Trans Day of Visibility!
Today is the annual international celebration of trans pride and awareness, recognising transgender and non-binary experiences and achievements.
We also understand that to be visible is not safe for everyone, all the time, or everywhere, especially in these current times, and that is also valid 🩷🤍🩵
In Aotearoa we have incredible visible trans trailblazers in our history.
Carmen Rupe (10 October 1936 – 15 December 2011)
Renowned matriarchal figure among local trans communities, trans woman, drag queen, anti-discrimination and HIV activist, and mayoral candidate.
Georgina Beyer (November 1957 – 6 March 2023)
(Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Raukawa, and Ngāti Porou)
The world's first openly transgender mayor and the world's first openly transgender member of parliament. She fought for Rainbow rights and Māori rights and was instrumental in the Civil Union Bill being passed in 2004.
Dr Will Hansen
Historian, academic and trans man. His thesis “Queer Activism in Aotearoa New Zealand, 1961 – 2013” is currently being written as a book manuscript. Will is also a trustee of Kawe Mahara Queer Archives Aotearoa.
